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SPORTING ADVENTURES 



IN 



THE FAR WEST 



By JOHN MORTIMER MURPHY 



ILLUSTRATED 



V 



Or 







NEW Y§RK 
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS 

FRANKLIN SQUARE 
1880 









Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by 

IIARPER & BROTHERS, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



. 









PREFACE. 



Having been a wanderer for nearly seven years in 
the Far West, a part of the time being ere railways 
were known there, and when very few whites, except 
the troops, were found in regions which now boast of 
thousands, I devoted particular attention to studying 
the fauna of the country, especially the game, whether 
it was fur, fin, or feather. 

My object in preparing this work has been to give 
the general characteristics, the haunts, habits, and the 
best method of hunting the largest class of game; 
and as my facts are derived from personal experi- 
ence, and from that of some of the most famous scouts 
and hunters I met in the West, I hope they may be 
found generally accurate. 

The contests between men and the fiercer creatures 
which are related were, when I do not speak person- 
ally, heard around the camp-fire or in the Indian's wig- 
wam, and one or two were culled from Western news- 
papers. 

Having no desire to pose as a Nimrod, I may say 
that some of my hunting was as much for the pur- 
pose of studying the ferae, naturae as for killing them, 
and that their life was frequently more pleasing to me 
than their death. 



6 PREFACE. 

I have combined incidents in some chapters, notably 
the buffalo and the prairie-wolf, my aim being to give 
somewhat similar experiences which might, perhaps, be 
interesting when united, but tedious and unimportant if 
related separately. 

The Author. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. 



Hints to Sportsmen. — Best Game Regions of the United States. — Pro- 
fusion of Animal Life. — Advantages of the Far West as a Hunting- 
ground'. — Best Quarters. — Inconveniences of Farm -houses for Large 
Parties. — Character of Guides. — Resent all Assumption of Superiority 
on Account of Title or Wealth. — Anecdote of their Independence of 
Character. — Action and Reaction. — How to select Guides. — The Best 
Animals for Hunting Expeditions. — Tents to be used. — How and when 
to pitch them. — General Instructions about Camp Life. — What Foods 
and Medicines to use. — Bedding and Clothing. — Stoves. — Fires, and 
how to build them. — How to make a Fire without Matches. — Lamps. 
— Best Clothing for Hunting. — Treatment of Boots. — How to prevent 
the Feet from Blistering. — Moccasins and Slippers. — Rubber Goods. — 
Under-clothing. — An Antidote for Fever and Ague. — How to prevent 
the Insect Plague. — Picketing Horses. — Necessity of Vigilance. — How 
Sentinels should be Posted. — How to detect the Approach of Objects. 
— Weapons should be Convenient. — Thieves. — Best Fire-arms. — Bul- 
lets. — Breech -loading Shot-guns for Forest Shooting. — Woodcraft. — 
Lost in the Forest. — Necessity of Observation. — Value of a Compass. 
— How to track or trail Animals in Flight. — How to procure Water. — 
Telling the Weight, Size, and Movements of Animals by their Tracks. 
— Use of a Field -glass. — Qualities of a Successful Hunter. — Charac- 
teristics of Best Nimrods. — Difference between Field and Target 
Shooting Page 17 

CHAPTER II. 

THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 

The Grizzly Bear. — Its Haunts, Habits, Size, and General Characteristics. 
— Fear of the Human Voice. — Its great Strength and Courage. — Fight 
between a Bear and Buffaloes. — The most Effective Means of killing 
it. — Anecdotes of Men killed and wounded by it. — Best Weapons for 
stalking it. — Is said not to touch a Man if he pretends to be Dead. — 
Examples. — How three Indians captured One. — Great Warriors and 
Grizzlies. — Value of Claws. — Judge Blank brings a Live Grizzly into 
Camp in a New Way. — Grizzly Bill. — Two Indians treed. — Subsequent 
Death of One. — A New Mode of killing a Grizzly in the West. — Its 



8 CONTENTS. 

Intractability and Selfish Nature.— How Mexicans capture it. — Is fre- 
quently killed by Hunters and Sportsmen single-handed. — My First 
Grizzly. — A Hunt after a Grizzly with Indians. — I am treed. — Death of 
a Warrior. — The Funeral Ceremony. — The Body subsequently devoured 
by Wolves. — A Comrade and Myself kill one in Wyoming. — A Grizzly 
invades the Camp. — The Midnight Alarm and Hunt. — I wound a Cub, 
and am chased by the Dam. — The Retreat. — Indian Anecdote of the 
Affection of a Grizzly for her Young. — Horseback Hunt with Greasers 
in California. — Our Trophies. — Death of a Horse, and wounding of its 
Rider. — We lasso Two Cubs. — Which is the King of Beasts — the Lion 
or the Grizzly ? Page 40 

CHAPTER III. 

THE BLACK BEAR. 

The Black Bear. — Different Varieties. — Their Haunts, Habits, and Gen- 
eral Characteristics. — Affection of Mothers for their Cubs. — Gravid 
Females never seen. — Migrations of the Bear. — Character of its Flesh. 
— Its Game Qualities. — Abundance of the Animal in the West. — The 
best Dogs for chasing it. — How to Hunt it. — Its Acuteness of Nose 
and Expertness in Swimming. — Captured by Steamers frequently in 
Puget Sound. — Why it is not Hunted much. — A Hunt with Indians. — 
The Scenes and Incidents of a Potlatch. — Capture of several Bears. 
— Tripped up while Stalking a Male. — Explosion of Gun. — A Rude 
Raft, a Wild Ride, and a Collision with a Barricade. — A bad Ducking. 
— I kill a Bear, and receive a bad Wound in the Arm. — A Canoe Trip, 
and a Hard Bump. — Reach Camp, and have my Wound dressed. — Re- 
turn of the Hunters. — An Indian Festival. — How Indians cook Young 
Bears. — I am mistaken for a Bear by Hunters, and shot at. — Anecdotes 
of Men attacked by Bears. — A Bear -hunt which results in being 
Treed. — The Release, and Death of the Besieger. — How a Doctor cap- 
tured a Bear. — Water versus Courage. — A Public Singer and an Imagi- 
nary Bear. — The Remuneration given for keeping his Adventure si- 
lent 75 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE COUGAR AND LYNXES. 

The Cougar. — Variety of its Names. — Size, Weight, Strength, Color, and 
General Characteristics. — Its Peculiarities when treed. — How Farmers 
kill it. — Anecdotes of its Courage. — A Fight with a Wolf and a Bear. 
— Desperate Struggle between a Cougar and an Unarmed Man in Ore- 
gon. — Two Kittens captured. — Death of the Dam. — A Wild Cougar 
plays with a Man in Washington Territory. — His Fright and Escape. — 
An Episode in Minnesota. — My First Cougar. — A Weird Funeral Cere- 
mony among the Digger Indians. — Why the Californiaus are called Tar 
Heads. — My next Capture, and another Form of an Indian Funeral. — 
A Hunt in the Cascade Range. — Death of a Cougar. — My Companion 
wounded. — Legend of an Enchanted Lake. — A Cougar cripples an In- 
dian. — Dangerous Character of the Animal. — The best Time for hunt- 



CONTENTS. 9 

ing it. — A Night Hunt, and its sei-ious Result. — Death of Two Cougars. 
— Other Members of the Cat Family. — Difference between Lynxes 
and true Cats. — How to distinguish them. — Lynx-hunts. — I kill Four 
in one Month. — Characteristics of the Genus. — Lynx-hunting as a 
Sport Page 106 



CHAPTER V. 

THE GRAY WOLF. 

The Gray Wolf. — Number of Species of Wolves. — Difference in Colors. — 
The Size of the largest Variety. — Its Courage. — Captures of small Dogs 
from the Indians. — A Pack kills Two of our Dogs. — Retaliation. — In- 
dians eat the Wolf. — Sagacity of the Animal in Hunting. — How a Pack 
drives Deer. — Stratagems resorted to. — Satellites of Herds of Buffaloes 
and Antelopes. — What Wolves live on. — Useful Scavengers. — Their 
harmless character to Man. — Famishing Wolves attack an Indian. — 
Result. — Afraid of a Child. — Yelps when wounded. — Their Size and 
Character when Food is plentiful. — How they are killed. — " Wolfers," 
and their Mode of Work. — Their General Character. — Sudden Wealth 
and Poverty.— A Lucky "Wolfer." — A Hunt with a " Wolfer." — His 
peculiar Breed of Dogs. — Their Speed and Stubbornness. — Six Cubs 
captured, and Two Wolves killed. — Pursuit of a Coyote. — Affection of 
a Mother for her Young. — How Wolves run when pursued. — Different 
Breeds of Dogs fit for Wolf-hunting. — How it is hunted in Portions of 
the West. — A spirited Wolf-chase. — How Wolves act when Trapped. — 
The Future of Wolf-hunting in the West 138 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 

The Prairie Wolf. — Origin of its Name. — Its Position among the Canidw. 
—The connecting Link between the large Wolf and the Fox. — Its Bur- 
rows. — Peculiarity of its Barking. — Its Form aud Color. — How it is 
looked upon by Plainsmen. — Where it is very Abundant. — Hunting it 
on Horseback.— Its Speed. — Best Dogs for Hunting it. — Its Numbers 
make it difficult to be Hunted by one Pack of Hounds. — The Heavi- 
ness of its Brush. — When it runs best. — Best Horses for the Chase. — 
Leaves a Screaming Scent. — Dashes after it with Hounds and Horses. 
— Kill Six in One Day. — Run into Encampments of War-parties of 
Indians. — Rapid Retreat. — A Severe Fight with the Red Men. — A 
Chase on the Plains of the Columbia. — The Meet. — Mongrel Dogs and 
their Love of Fighting.— At Cover.— Start.— Two Coyotes.— The Pur- 
suit.— Killed by Indian Dogs. — A Mongrel Greyhound brings One to 
Bay, and it is shot. — I shoot One. — Looking for my Party. — A Meet 
and a Run. — Surprised by Indians. — Whites veisus Indians in the 
Chase.— Seven Coyotes killed.— Fun and Confusion.— Falls and Laugh- 
ter. — The Relation of Indian Dogs to Coyotes. — Their Character for 

Hunting. — Future of Coyote-hunting 161 

1* 



10 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE BUFFALO. 

The Buffalo. — Number of Species. — Difference between them. — The gi- 
gantic Buffalo of prehistoric Times. — Fierce Aspect of the modern Bi- 
son. — Courage of the Male. — Social Character of the Species. — Mothers 
have Little Affection for the Calves. — Fight between a Grizzly Bear 
and a Small Herd of Bulls. — A Bull rescues a Calf from a Pack of 
Wolves. — Another tries to protect a Cow from a Hunter. — A New 
Mode of capturing Calves. — Buffaloes in a State of Domestication. — 
Favorite Habitat of the Buffalo. — Character of the Buffalo Grass. — 
Sufferings of the Animals in Winter from Hunger. — Why Old Bulls 
leave the Herds. — Use of the Buffalo to the Indians. — The Flesh of the 
Buffalo.— A Custom of the West. — How the Wolverine feasts on dried 
Buffalo Meat. — Cunning and Courage. — Pemmican. — The most Deli- 
cate Parts of the Buffalo. — Cows better than Bulls. — Vitality of the 
Animals. — Best Weapons for hunting them. — American Horses versus 
Mustangs. — Opinion of Old Hunters. — Faults of Mustangs in running 
Buffaloes. — The Various Systems employed for killing the Buffalo. — 
Great Annual Slaughter of the Animal. — Indians dressed in Wolf-skins 
attack the Buffalo. — Why they use Arrows instead of Fire-arms. — Huuts 
of the Half-breeds of British America.— Mean Devices of the Whites. 
— How Thousands are destroyed Annually. — The Camp and the Night 
Alarm. — Shooting at Antelopes.— Stalking Buffalo Skulls. — Gambols 
of Herds. — A Dash after a Herd, and what came of it. — An Alarm of 
Indians. — Opinions of a Party of Teutons about Jokes. — The Result to 
me of my Day's hunting.— A Spirited Chase in the Republican Valley. 
— Wolves and Number of Quarries killed. — A Thousand Hunters and 
Thousands of Buffaloes in Motion at the same Time.— Howling Wolves 
and bellowing Bisons. — An Alarm of Sioux. — The Retreat. — Panic- 
stricken Pawnees Page 192 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE MOOSE. 

The Moose. — Its Range in the West. — Its Form, Haunts, and Habits. — 
The Rutting Season. — Cries of the Animal. — How Males are lured 
within Rifle Range.— Calling as an Art. — How to make a Call. — The 
best Callers. — Young Bulls easily inveigled. — The best Time for Call- 
ing. — The Moose as a Browser.— Difficulties in stalking it. — Acuteness 
of its Nose and Ears. — How experienced Hunters quarter the Ground. 
— Its Haunts in Summer. — Hunting it in Winter.— Dogs and Snow- 
shoes. — The European and American Species. — How the Latter can be 
Domesticated. — Hide -hunters. — A Moose -hunt, and its Result. — A 
Charge. — Lost in the Forest. — Trying to And Camp. — A Welcome 
Moose-call. — Rescued.— A Hunt on Snow-shoes. — Episodes.— Number 
of Moose killed. — Difference in Size and Habits between the Eastern 
and Western Species.— Large Antlers. — Moose-hunting as an Art. . 244 



CONTENTS. 1 1 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE ELK, OR WAPITI. 

The Wapiti. — Its Range, Haunts, Habits, and Gait. — Fierce Contests be- 
tween the Males. — How they may be detected by the "Shaking." — 
Courage of the Elk. — Two Men charged by a Couple in Oregon. — The 
Escape. — Novel Mode of killing it in the North-west. — Thousands 
never saw Man. — When started, said not to stop until it crosses Water. 
— How Herds run when in Flight. — Their Speed and Endm - ance. — The 
Elk as a Roadster and Saddle Animal. — Hide-huuters. — Great Slaugh- 
ter of the Animal. — Why Hinds lead the Columns. — How to Hunt it 
successfully in the Forest and on the Plains. — Dr. Carver's Great Feat. 
— The best Weapons. — How to Shoot on Horseback. — The most Ex- 
citing Run I ever had after it. — Bagging a Stag. — Pursuit of a Hind, 
and why she was Captured. — Escape of a Fawn. — Surprised by Indians. 
— The Assembly. — Our Plans and Stratagems. — A Running Fight. — 
Loss of the Indians. — Find Refuge in a Chasm. — Death of one of our 
Men. — He is mutilated, and burned to Death. — Our Retreat. — Suffer 
from Hunger. — Loss of our Camp, and Escape of the Camp Guard. — 
Where we found Safety. — A Scalp Dance. — Unusual Abundance of 
large Game. — We kill sixty Elks in Colorado. — Lassoing Fawns. — 
Visions of the Sport Page 266 

CHAPTER X. 

THE MULE DEER. 

The Mule Deer. — Its Haunts and Habits. — General Characteristics. — Ori- 
gin of Name. — Weight, Size, and Appearance. — Why it is called the 
Jumping Deer. — Fire -hunting. — Herding of Bucks. — Hunting with 
Hounds. — Stalking. — Migrations of the Animal. — Large Numbers kill- 
ed by Hunters. — A Hunt in the Bitter Root Mountains. — Wailing of 
Squaws. — A Visit to an Indian Cemetery. — Disappearance of the 
Mourners. — A Retreat. — Wolves. — Sit up all Night. — Fear of Indians. 
— A Visit from them in the Morning. — Our Preparations for their Re- 
ception. — Mutual Recognition. — The Trapper's Story. — Visit the In- 
dian Camp. — The Pipe of Peace. — Speeches. — A Buffalo Dance. — Revis- 
it the Burial-ground. — Mode of Burying the Dead. — Mourning Songs 
of Squaws. — Change Camp. — Number of Deer captured, and how we 
Bagged them. — Wolves attacking a Stag. — Death of Five of them. — 
Change Quarters. — Hunting Does and Fawns. — Why these keep to the 
Foot-hills. — Our Success with them. — Another Visit to the Indian 
Camp.— An Aged Couple deserted.— How Indians treat Old People.— 
Their Fate 292 

CHAPTER XL 

THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER, AND THEIR VARIETIES. 

The Black-tailed and Virginia Deer, and their Varieties. — Range of the 
Black- tail. —Misapplication of Names. — Size, Speed, and Jumping 



12 CONTENTS. 

Power. — Character of its Flesh. — Its Abundance. — Gi - eat Numbers 
slaughtered Annually. — Objection of Pot-hunters to Hounds. — Best 
Kind of Dogs for hunting it in the Forests. — Packs in the North-west. 
— Use of Deer-hounds. — Where to find the Black-tail. — The White-tail- 
ed Deer. — Its Haunts and Habits. — Difference between it and the Black- 
tail when running before Hounds. — Its Intrusive Character and Abun- 
dance. — How Farmers keep it away from their Crops. — Antipathy be- 
tween Sheep and Deer. — Fondness for Salt and Sulphur Springs. — Best 
Weapon for hunting it. — The Spotted and White Deer. — The Former a 
Great Pet. — The Latter supposed to be a Wandering Spirit by the In- 
dians. — Where found. — The Virginia Deer. — Its Feeding-grounds. — Best 
Time for stalking it. — How to stalk it. — The Dwarf Deer. — Its Haunts, 
Habits, and Numbers. — Different Methods of hunting Deer. — A Day's 
Hunting in the Woods with Hounds. — Number Captured. — A Fortnight 
in the Forests of Washington Territory. — Our Camp and Hunting Expe- 
rience. — Extraordinary Abundance of Fur, Fin, and Feather. — Incidents 
of Sport and Camp Life. — Merry Times. — Attacked by a Buck. — Lost in 
the Forest. — Actions of a Man when lost. — How I reached Camp. — Ex- 
cursions after Fin and Feather. — Homeward bound. — A Grand Hunt- 
ball. — The Ball-room aud the People. — An Original Band. — The Terpsi- 
choreans, and now they were put through their Figures.— Ball-room 
Scenes and Repasts. — A Hunt-dinner. — Rambling once more. — A Pleas- 
ant Reminiscence Page 323 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE ANTELOPE, OR PRONG-HORN. 

The Prong-horn. — Its Haunts, Range, and Abundance. — Character of its 
Food. — Its fear of Woods.— Its Position in Natural History. — General 
Characteristics. — Strange Growth of its Horns. — Its Glandular System. 
— Is easily Tamed. — Sterility when Domesticated. — Its Speed. — Cours- 
ing it with Greyhounds.— Vigilance of the Animal.— A Herd on Guard. 
—Best Means of stalking it— Great Curiosity of Males.— Weeps when 
wounded. — Twenty-four killed by oue Dog. — A Day's Coursing on the 
Laramie Plains. — Lassoing Fawns.— The best Dogs for the Chase. — 
How experienced Hounds hunt the Antelope. — Stalking and its Re- 
sult.— Playful Fawns.— Stags and Wolves.— Fate of the Antelope.. 363 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT. 

The Rocky Mountain Goat.— Position in Natural History.— Its Classifica- 
tion. — Supposed to be a Goat-antelope.— Its Appearance, Haunts, and 
Habits.— Character of its Hair.— Vigilance of Sentinels.— Its Nimble- 
ness.— Fear of the Lowlands.— Getting Scarce.— Flocks in Flight- 
First Introduction to the Goat— A March with Indians.— A Stalk in 
the Cascade Range.— Its Result— Disappointment— A Ram killed.— 
Skin spoiled by a Fall.— A Hunt in Montana.— Sharp Terriers.— Their 



CONTENTS. 13 

use in stalking. — Trophies and Tramping. — Opinion of an old Hunter 
on Goat-shooting. — A successful Stalker's Faculties. — Charging Goats. 
—The use of Dogs in hunting them Page 381 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE BIG-HORN, OR MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 

The Big-horn, or Mountain Sheep. — Its Haunts and Habits. — Character- 
istics required to Hunt it successfully. — Its Caution and Vigilance. — 
Order of a Flock in Flight. — Hunters' Tales of its Nimbleness. — Pug- 
nacity of the Males. — Contest between a Wolf and a Big-horn. — Size of 
Rams. — Measurement of Horns. — The Rutting Season. — Flocks of Old 
Rams. — Best Time for Hunting them. — Stalking Exercise. — A good 
Rifle. — Usefulness of a Field-glass. — Indian "Sheep-eaters." — Pemmi- 
can.— My First Hunt.— A Kill.— Stalk a Flock.— Detected.— The As- 
sembly. — Result of a Fusillade. — Tedious Chase after an Old Ram. — I 
get Butted over. — A tardy Capture. — Flavor of wild Mutton Cutlets. 
— Dogs for Sheep-hunting. — A Hunt in the War Eagle Mountains. — Our 
Success. — A Cougar scared. — "Dancing" Sheep. — Big-horns waiting 
for their Leader. — Adventure of the Guide with a War-party of Indians. 
—Defeat of the Latter 394 



CHAPTER XV. 



Foxes very Numerous in the West. — Hunting-clubs. — Various Species 
and Varieties of Foxes. — Difference between the American and the 
European Red Fox. — Size, Color, Characteristics, and Value of Fur of 
the Prairie, Cross, Black, Silver, Swift, and Arctic Foxes. — Difference 
between the Red and the Gray Fox. — The Latter trees, but rarely runs 
to Earth. — A true Woodland Animal. — Its Food. — Is being superseded 
by the Red Species. — The Dwarf or Island Fox. — Lives on Insects. — 
Fearlessness and Numbers. — Cause of its Diminutive Size. — Value of 
Fox-skins in Commerce 418 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Hares. — Their Abundance. — The "Jack Rabbit." — Mark Twain's Opin- 
ion of its Speed. — Marvellous Tales of Pioneers. — What constitutes an 
Oregon Mule. — Coursing - clubs. — California Greyhounds. — Character- 
istics of the Water-hare. — Swims like a Retriever. — How it escapes its 
Pursuers. — The Swamp-hare. — Its Peculiar Appearance. — Measure- 
ments. — The Washington, Prairie, California, Wood, and Sage Hares, 
and the Smaller Varieties. — Peculiar Character of Baird's Rabbit. — The 
Males suckle the Young. — Dissection by a Surgeon. — How Indians and 
Whites capture Hares 426 



14 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE RACCOON, OPOSSUM, AND SQUIRREL FAMIEIES. 

The Raccoon, Opossum, and Squirrel Families. — Number of Species. — 
How Hunted. — Two Negroes and a Coon Stew. — Best Way of Shoot- 
ing Squirrels Page 436 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

FUR ANIMALS. 

Haunts, Habits, and Mode of Capturing the Wolverene,' Mink, Fisher, 
Marten, Ermine, Musk-rat, Skunk, Badger, Land and Sea Otter, Fur- 
seal, Beaver, and Showtl. — An Unpleasant Adventure while after Fur- 
seals. — Enormous Destruction of Fur Animals. — Latest Statistics.. 442 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Moose-calling Frontispiece 

Grizzly Bears 41 

Necklace of Bears' Claws 50 

Lassoing a Grizzly 73 

Black Bear _ 76 

Indian Dance 85 

The Puma, or Cougar 107 

Concolor — The Puma Ill 

Gray Wolves 139 

Prairie Wolves 162 

The Wolf 166 

Coyotes 169 

A Wolf-hunt on the Prairie 189 

American Bison 194 

The Herd moving toward Water 201 

Kaiowa Buffalo Chase 211 - 

Buffalo-running 237' 

Buffalo-hunting , 240 

The Moose 245 

Snow-shoe 261 

Moose-hunting 264 

Wapiti Deer 267- 

The American Deer 293 

Virginian Deer 325 ■ 

Feeding-ground of the Antelope 364 

The Big-horn 395 

River Scene, Montana , 416 

The Fox 419 

The Hare 427 

The Rabbit Warren 433 

The Raccoon 436 

The Squirrel 440 

The Wolverene , 442 

The Ermine 448 



1 6 ILL USTEA TIOXTS. 

PAGE 

Musquash, or American Musk-rats 449 

The Badger 450 

The Otter 451 

Fur-seals at English Bay, St. Paul's Island 455 

The Seal 456 

The Beaver Trap 459 

The Beaver 460 

Bulls Quarrelling 467 



SPORTING ADVENTURES 



IN 



THE F^R WEST. 



CHAPTER I. 

HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. 



Hints to Sportsmen. — Best Game Regions of the United States. — Pro- 
fusion of Animal Life. — Advantages of the Far West as a Hunting- 
ground. — Best Quarters. — Inconveniences of Farm-houses for Large 
Parties. — Character of Guides. — Resent all Assumption of Superiority 
on Account of Title or Wealth. — Anecdote of their Independence of 
Character. — Action and Reaction. — How to select Guides. — The Best 
Animals for Hunting Expeditions. — Tents to be used. — How and when 
to pitch them. — General Instructions about Camp Life. — What Foods 
and Medicines to use. — Bedding and Clothing. — Stoves. — Fires, and 
how to build them. — How to make a Fire without Matches. — Lamps. 
— Best Clothing for Hunting. — Treatment of Boots. — How to prevent 
the Feet from Blistering. — Moccasins and Slippers. — Rubber Goods. — 
Under-clothing. — An Antidote for Fever and Ague. — How to prevent 
the Insect Plague. — Picketing Horses. — Necessity of Vigilance. — How 
Sentinels should be Posted. — How to detect the Approach of Objects. 
— Weapons should be Convenient. — Thieves. — Best Fire-arms. — Bul- 
lets. — Breech -loading Shot-guns for Forest Shooting. — Woodcraft. — 
Lost in the Forest. — Necessity of Observation. — Value of a Compass. 
— How to track or trail Animals in Flight. — How to procure Water. — 
Telling the Weight, Size, and Movements of Animals by their Tracks. 
— Use of a Field -glass. — Qualities of a Successful Hunter. — Charac- 
teristics of Best Nimrods. — Difference between Field and Target 
Shooting. 

The higher order of game animals are now so scarce in 
the United States east of the Missouri River that sports- 
men can have little real hunting until they go far to the 
west of that noble stream; but if they would enjoy it to 
an unusual extent they must cross the Rocky Mountains; 



18 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

for in the vast area lying between that chain and the Pa- 
cific Ocean may be found nearly every species of game 
indigenous to the North American Continent, and several 
whose habitat is confined to that region alone. Anions: 
the latter may be mentioned the grizzly and black bears, 
the mountain sheep and goat, several species of deer, 
besides cougars, wolves, foxes, and many smaller quadru- 
peds. Of the entire area, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Ore- 
gon, and Washington Territory, with their towering moun- 
tains and extensive plains, dense forests and treeless pla- 
teaus, are by far the best hunting-grounds, as they possess 
all the elements of soil and climate necessary for the sus- 
tenance of a large and varied faunal life, and their popula- 
tion is yet so limited that it has little effect on the increase 
of the ferce naiurce. These countries can be approached in 
variety and abundance of game only by the tangled jun- 
gles of India, or the impenetrable woods of Africa; and as 
they, including Utah, embrace an area of nearly six hun- 
dred thousand square miles, or about five times that of the 
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, it is evident 
that they will afford a splendid field to true sportsmen for 
many years to come. In their profusion and variety of 
game birds and fishes they have no rivals in any quarter 
of the globe; hence it may be safely stated that the entire 
region extending from California on the south and west, 
to British America on the north and east, is without a peer 
as a recreation-ground for those who love the ecstatic ex- 
citement of the chase, or the quiet, meditative pleasure of 
angling. The advantages which the Far West possesses 
over all other places to the lovers of the rod and gun are, 
that the expense of reaching it is comparatively small ; 
that game is unusually abundant; that life is generally 
safe there now from the attacks of savages, fierce ani- 
mals, irritating insects, poisonous serpents, or deadly dis- 
eases, by taking ordinary precaution ; that trusty and ex- 
perienced guides are easily procured, and at a nominal 
sum ; that an outfit complete in every detail may be ob- 
tained in a town of any importance ; that a rapid means of 



HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. 19 

travel are always at command ; and, finally, that no matter 
how irregularly persons may roam in pursuit of game, they 
are within a few days' march of civilization and the high- 
ways of communication with the outer world. 

Those who visit the country in seai'ch of the denizens 
of the forest and the stream, the mountain and the plain, 
should, if they wish to be unusually successful, or desire to 
satiate themselves with the delights of hunting and fishing, 
be prepared to camp out, or take up their quarters in farm- 
houses some distance away from large settlements. The 
latter is much the cheaper plan, and may do well enough 
for single individuals or very small parties; but it has its 
disadvantages in the fact that the surrounding country is 
hunted in a short time, that the accommodations are often 
of a poor character, and are sometimes difficult to find ; for 
the owners of cabins frequently object to receiving stran- 
gers, and especially those from the city, who are supposed 
to be exceedingly fastidious in their tastes ; and, finally, 
the Nimrods are hampered in the freedom of their move- 
ments and actions, and are never so much at their ease as 
they would be if they were snugly quartered in their own 
tents or wagons, or even extended under the umbrageous 
shelter of a spreading tree. The inconvenience is all the 
greater if persons are accompanied by dogs, horses, and a 
large hunting paraphernalia ; but if not, and they only de- 
sire a few days' hunting or fishing in a place, and they do 
not care about making very large bags, a farm-house may 
afford them all the comforts they want, and will at least 
save them no small sum for camping outfit and the means 
of travelling. 

Some of the guides in the country are prepared to ac- 
commodate a few followers of the chase; but it is often 
the case with them that familiarity breeds contempt; hence 
they do not work so well, in many instances, as they would 
if their proteges were less familiar with them. One word 
may be said here of these Western guides, and that is, that 
they will bear no high-handed dictation or any assumption 
of superiority over them by those under their guidance; 



20 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

and though they may not resent it personally, they will in 
many other ways, by causing a person's hunting exploits 
to be few and far between, and to make him tramp many 
weary miles over rugged mountains, through precipitous 
canyons, and over tiresome plains, for no other purpose 
than to thoroughly fatigue him, so that he may be glad to 
take a rest the next day. If he is kind, genial, and open- 
hearted, however, they will do almost anything for him, and 
will leave no effort untried to make his experience of the 
chase as pleasant as possible. 

I remember meeting a party of English tourists once in 
Nebraska who were out on a buffalo-hunt; and although 
they were travelling three days, and had met herds of buf- 
faloes every day, they were not able to get a shot at one ; 
but, with characteristic pluck, they were still following the 
moving throngs, hoping to be able at some time to have 
a dash on horseback after them. As they had two good 
scouts and some experienced wagon-drivers with them, I 
was rather surprised at their ill luck, but my surprise 
ceased when I spoke of the matter to the leader of the ex- 
pedition. His explanation, which was made with many 
expletives, and in exceedingly vigorous language, was, that 
the tourists, who knew nothing about the business on 
which they were engaged, were constantly dictating to 
himself and his companions what they should and should 
not do in the most frigid and supercilious manner; that 
they never spoke to them except to give some command 
or make an impatient inquiry; that they kept entirely to 
themselves both in camp and on the march, and never once 
offered to share the contents of their flask with them ; that 
their English servants were even as consequential as their 
masters, and evidently looked upon them (the guides) as 
barbarians and mudsills, and would obey no order unless it 
came from " mawster ;" and that all, when by themselves, 
were overheard running down the country in every way. 
" 'Tain't likely," was the scout's comment, " that we're go- 
ing to trouble ourselves much about of that sort, so 

we drive the buffaloes away before they get up to Bill and 



HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. 21 

myself; and if they keep up their foreign style as they have 
done, they won't get any nearer to a buffalo than they have 
so far for the fortnight for which they engaged us." As 
two friends and myself were in the region on a buffalo-hunt, 
we asked the gentlemen to join us for a day or two if they 
wished, and to leave their teams and guides in camp, and 
we hinted that they could kill all the animals they would 
care to; but they, in a frozenly polite manner, refused 
our invitation, on the ground that they had their own tents 
and guides, and could not accept favors from unknown 
strangers. We became frozen ourselves after that assertion, 
inasmuch as we thought it to be too egotistical in manner ; 
so we left them at once, and, on returning to town a week 
afterward, heard that they had come back without killing a 
buffalo, although they had seen them in immense numbers. 

I met the same party subsequently in "Wyoming, and all 
expressed themselves delighted with their luck in that re- 
gion ; and some became as enthusiastic as their temper- 
ament would permit them in describing the quantity of 
game they had killed, and the wonderful scenery of the 
country. Their good fortune was due, however, to their 
former experience ; for they soon learned that Western 
men cared very little for mere titles or wealth, and paid 
no more personal respect to their owners, when they were 
arrogant, than they would to the simplest citizen. They 
were, in fact, sometimes spoken of in the most disrespect- 
ful manner in their own hearing; and this taught them 
that they were not of as much consequence as they deemed 
themselves to be ; so, accepting the facts, they made them- 
selves as agreeable to those who accompanied them as cult- 
ured gentlemen could, and the result was such an amount 
of pleasure and successful hunting as they had never antic- 
ipated. I mention this incident for the purpose of show- 
ing how differently foreign tourists are treated by those 
very independent guides, when they, in the language of the 
latter, " put on lugs," and when they are genial, and act the 
part of " hail fellows well met." 

In selecting guides for a protracted hunt, a good plan 



22 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

would be to make no contracts with them except for their 
personal services, and to obtain wagons, horses, and mules 
from other parties, as the former often charge unusually 
heavy prices for their teams, and furnish the poorest ani- 
mals in their herds in the bargain. The majority, how- 
ever, are honest, and will do all in their power for their 
patrons; but these are generally off the highways of trav- 
el, and are themselves ardent followers of the chase. The 
services of a good guide ought to be obtained for two or 
three dollars per day, and if an Indian, for one dollar; and 
a team and driver ought not to cost more than thirty dol- 
lars per week, or five dollars per day. If it is intended to 
continue the hunt for any lengthened period of time, the 
best method would be to purchase whatever wagons and 
animals may be needed, as they can be sold again when 
the season is over for nearly as much as they cost in the 
first instance. Good mustangs can be obtained at from fif- 
teen to sixty dollars each ; but mules are dear, they being 
rather scarce beyond the Rocky Mountains. In the ma- 
jority of cases it would be better to use pack animals for 
transporting the baggage, as this gives greater mobility, 
and they can traverse mountainous regions which wagons 
cannot even enter. For travelling over hills or any rug- 
ged country, mules make the best riding animals, as they 
are hardy, patient, and sure-footed ; but a mustang or an 
American horse is better for the plains, its gait being 
much more easy and regular than that of the long-eared 
quadruped. 

The best tent for camping purposes, during the summer 
at least, is the wall tent, with fly attached, as that is con- 
venient to pitch, easily folded, can be readily ventilated 
during sultry weather, and is of a shape that enables beds 
to be put up with little trouble. It should be made of 
duck heavy enough to keep out rain and the fierce rays of 
a noonday sun; and poles for it should always be carried 
along, as their weight is nothing in comparison to the 
delay and annoyance of cutting new ones at every en- 
campment, even where wood is plentiful ; whereas in many 



HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. 23 

places it is so scarce that not a vestige of it is visible for 
miles. In selecting a camp, the first requisites are that 
wood, water, and grass should be convenient, if it is intend- 
ed to remain there any length of time ; if not, the second 
element is the first matter that should receive attention, 
and all others, except personal safety, should be sacrificed 
to it. It is, fortunately, plentiful enough in the hunting re- 
gions west of the Rocky Mountains, and if it takes its rise 
in a granite formation it never runs dry. When a tent 
is pitched, its back should always be toward the wind, if 
there is no shelter convenient; but if there is, advantage 
should be taken of it. It should occupy, if possible, a knoll, 
or the crest of sloping ground ; and if a storm is threaten- 
ed, a trench a few inches deep should be dug all round it 
to drain away the rain ; and the earth ought to be placed 
against the lower part of the sides to prevent their being 
lifted up by the wind or saturated with water. On a 
mountain, it ought to occupy the lee of a rock or a bluff, 
and in a forest, should be placed amidst the shrubbery; 
for if pitched under a tree, the latter is liable to be hurled 
down by a fierce gust of wind, and to do the occupants 
some injury. This rule does not apply, however, to the 
dense woods of Oregon and Washington Territory, as 
wind-storms are rare in that region, and the most violent 
that ever blew seem incapable of tearing up the arboreal 
giants that cover the ground there for an area of many 
thousands of square miles. 

If the camp is located near a river, care should be taken 
that it is not inundated during the freshets which occur in 
all of them in May or June, and in many of them after a 
heavy rainfall. To provide against such an accident, it 
should be established some distance away from the banks, 
and, if possible, on sloping ground or a crest. No hard- 
and-fast rules can be followed in all cases; hence persons 
must depend on their own judgment as to where it would 
be best to pitch a camp ; so the precautions given are only 
to suggest that where it is convenient they might be fol- 
lowed to advantage. 



24 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

It is necessary that persons should make themselves as 
comfortable as they can in camp, if hunting would not be- 
come a toilsome labor, instead of a buoyant, virile pleasure. 
I would, therefore, intimate to sportsmen to take as much 
variety of condensed food with them as they think neces- 
sary for the trip, for it is not only palatable, but it is al- 
most necessary to health, and is, besides, exceedingly port- 
able. Condensed milk and coffee, pressed tea, sugar, self- 
leavening flour, dessicated eggs, some canned fruits, crack- 
ers, pepper, salt, and onions, pickles, ham, pork, beans, and 
potatoes, should form the larger portion of commissariat 
of all expeditions ; and when to these are added edible wild 
roots and herbs, and succulent fresh meat and delicious 
trout, a party may live as happily in the wilderness, and 
thrive better than if they were quartered in the best hos- 
telry in the world. 

The cooking utensils should include a kettle, a frying- 
pan, a pot, a broiler, and a teapot ; and the table appendages 
should embrace tin plates, tin or plated cups, knives and 
forks, spoons, a pepper and salt box, and a sirup caddy; 
and the whole, when not in use, should fit into a compact 
kit made of tin or wood. 

If an open fire is used for cooking, it should always be 
built to the leeward of the tent, to avoid accidents ; and if 
the wind is baffling, and blows the smoke and sparks in 
every direction, it ought to be made in a hole dug in the 
ground. Two pieces of wood having a crotch at one end, 
and placed at opposite ends of the fire, with a cross-stick 
connecting them, make an excellent crane on which to sus- 
pend a pot for boiling; and if one is hungry, and wishes to 
satisfy the craving of the appetite at once, he may do it by 
thrusting a sharp-pointed bit of wood through a piece of 
meat, and holding it in the blaze for a few moments. A 
slice of venison cooked in this manner, and sprinkled over 
with pepper and salt, makes a delicious tidbit, as the juices 
are retained in it. 

In camping out, one should carry four heavy blankets 
for bedding, as the nights in the region adjoining the Pa- 



HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. 25 

cific Ocean are always cool, owing to the rapid radiation 
of heat after sunset — the result of the absence of clouds. 
Some people prefer to sleep on the ground rolled up in 
their blankets, and with their feet toward the fire, to the 
softest couch; but I have found that a bed or a hammock 
is the most comfortable, and the safest also, as its height 
prevents snakes and other crawling tilings from becoming 
unwelcome bedfellows. An excellent, convenient, and ex- 
ceedingly portable bed, which can be rolled up into a very 
small compass, is now made in New York specially for 
camp purposes; and this I found to fully supply all the re- 
quirements of such an article, as it has a gentle slope from 
head to foot, so that one does not need a pillow, and it may 
be set up in less than a minute. 

I have also found an air-bed made of rubber very con- 
venient when I could not pitch a tent and was compelled 
to sleep on wet ground ; but I thought it too heavy for 
transportation, unless I was travelling by canoe, and my 
cheeks often ached in trying to fill it. It has its advan- 
tages, however ; and if a person had the means at command 
for carrying it, he would find it a matter of difficulty to 
get any bed to equal it in comfort, it being both soft and 
water-proof. If one must sleep on the ground, a rubber 
blanket should be placed upon it to keep out the damp- 
ness ; and with another over the woollen blankets he may 
repose soundly, even while the rain pours down upon him. 

The most comfortable means of keeping warm in a tent 
either night or day, and also the readiest for cooking food, 
is to use a neat camp-stove made of sheet-iron, which has a 
length of about two feet, a breadth of thirteen or fourteen 
inches, a height of, say, fifteen inches, and contains an oven 
nine or ten inches in length, and occupying the whole width 
of the apparatus. There should be two holes in the top for 
kettles, and their covers ought to be saucer-shaped, to pre- 
vent them from being warped by the heat. The pipe should 
be made in small sections, for the sake of portability ; and 
where it passes through the tent the hole should be protect- 
ed by a plate of sheet-iron or tin, to prevent the camp from 

2 



26 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

being set on fire. This will not only keep the tent heated 
in the coldest weather, but will minimize the danger of a 
conflagration from vagrant sparks, and will enable a person 
to cook several dishes at the same time. Those who have 
used it would scarcely do without it, as it makes camp 
pleasant on the rawest and dreariest days and nights, and 
it is almost a necessity to the culinary department. All 
hunting-parties should carry one at least, and they would 
soon learn to prize it at its full value. It need not neces- 
sarily do away with the open-air fires, as the latter are of- 
ten useful in keeping skunks, wolves, bears, flies, snakes, and 
other prowling creatures away from the camp; and persons 
may, as of yore, seat or stretch themselves on the ground 
beside it, and relate tales of dangers passed, and adventures 
by flood and field. 

To make a good fire of this character, a back-log, or per- 
haps three or four of them piled one on the other, and re- 
tained in their position by stakes driven into the ground, is 
needed ; and two or thx*ee large stones should be placed un- 
der the fuel in front, in order to give it the draught necessary 
to cause it to burn freely. The Flat-head Indians make one 
by placing the butts of the logs in the centre and resting 
them on one another, thus giving them a pyramidal form; 
and under these they place moss, bark, and twigs, which 
burn rapidly as soon as they are set on fire; and as they 
communicate their heat at once to all the wood above them, 
the result is a splendid fire in a very short time. Not hav- 
ing any matches with which to ignite the fuel, the red men 
frequently do it by firing powder into dry moss, punk, or 
grass, and waving it back and forth in the wind until it 
burns freely, or by revolving rapidly between their hands a 
piece of hard wood inserted in a small aperture cut in dry, 
soft wood. They can obtain a fire by the latter means in 
less than a minute sometimes; but in many cases it takes 
much longer, especially if the material is damp. As wood 
is always wanted, every camp should have an axe; and a 
hammer, saw, auger, nails, rope, twine, and needles will be 
found useful. A lantern is also a necessity; and a me- 



HINTS TO SPOUTS MEN. 27 

chanical lamp which burns any kind of oil, and does not 
require a glass chimney, will be found exceedingly conven- 
ient on some occasions, especially if reading at night is any 
pleasure; and it is, for one frequently gets weary of the 
same class of tales when repeated too often. This lamp 
can also be used for cooking a steak, or boiling a tea or a 
coffee pot, which it does in a few minutes ; and as it cannot 
be blown out by any ordinary breeze, and the oil cannot be 
spilled, it is well adapted to tent life. 

Persons should always carry a generous supply of match- 
es, and, to preserve them from dampness, they ought to be 
packed in a bottle or a rubber bag ; for they are very pre- 
cious things when the place where they may be purchased 
is many miles distant. Soap and towels should also be 
abundant, especially the former, for a bath in the limpid 
stream after a hard day's toil is a luxury indeed, and, if 
taken in the morning, it acts both as a mental and physical 
invigorator. 

The clothing of a hunter who would be successful ought 
to be of a dull, neutral, or pepper-and-salt tint, so that ani- 
mals may not be startled by the presence of any unusual 
hue, and that he may the more readily conceal himself in 
timber, on the prairie, or amidst mountain crags. Light 
colors are better than very dark ones, as the latter contrast 
strongly with the ground or foliage, and are therefore more 
readily seen ; whereas a drab, a butternut, or a light brown 
can scarcely be distinguished at any distance from many 
natural objects in the surrounding landscape. For work- 
ing in the woods iu spring or summer, the former tints are 
preferable to all others ; but for the autumn, or even for 
mountain shooting, the " pepper-and-salt " cloth, or some 
kindred material, is by many persons deemed the best. 
The clothing worn should be made loose, so as to give free- 
dom of movement, and the older it is, consistent with com- 
fort and appearance, the better it is ; for one does not care 
for it then so much, and he "roughs" it without any com- 
punctions of conscience about a tailor's bill ; and if it should 
wet torn into shreds he feels that he has not lost much. 



28 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

Good heavy boots or shoes are indispensable for long 
walking or heavy climbing, and they also should be free to 
the feet, so that they may not blister them, or produce 
heart-aching corns, which always pinch most when most 
inconvenient. Should the shoes get wet, the soles and up- 
pers ought to be oiled well with castor- oil before being 
dried ; and should they blister the feet, the inside of the 
stockings should be coated with common yellow soap ; and 
this, when repeated a few times, will both harden the pedal 
extremities and prevent them from blistering for many 
weeks at least. An extra pair of boots or shoes should 
always be carried, also slippers or moccasins. The latter, 
if smoke-tanned, are, in my estimation, the best, as they are 
easy and pliable to the feet, do not harden and shrink after 
a wetting, and may be used even for travelling over a coun- 
try where rocks and briers are not common. An overcoat, 
a rubber cape and leggings, and a rubber blanket or two 
should form a portion of every Nimrod's wardrobe when 
out in the wilds; for the former is often useful even on 
summer nights, and the latter are necessities during the 
prevalence of a rain-storm, or to act as preventives against 
the dampness of the ground or the atmosphere, if one is 
compelled to sleep in the open air ; and he often is, or he 
sometimes wishes to do it. Warm under-clothing is a ne- 
cessity, even if the outer is light, and should be made of 
flannel, to prevent the too rapid cooling of the body after 
great or severe exertion ; and in order that it might be al- 
ways fit to wear, that and all other materials of the ward- 
robe should be carried in a water-proof bag. 

As the majority of people, no matter how robust they 
may be, are sometimes liable to light attacks of illness, it 
is fair to infer that those who cross the Rocky Mountains 
in search of fur, fin, or feather may at one time or other 
become indisposed, owing to a change of climate, water, or 
some other cause ; it might, therefore, be well to suggest 
to them to take some simple medicines with them, so that 
they might be used promptly in case of need. These may 
be confined to a few cathartic pills, a diarrhoea mixture, a 



HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. 29 

diuretic, sal-volatile, salve, court-plaster, sweet-oil, a bottle 
of ginger, and the fluid extract of hamamelis to allay the 
irritation of fly -bites, and to bathe contusions or slight 
wounds with. Should such a calamity occur to a person 
as to be bitten by a rattlesnake, a generous dosing of whis- 
key until he is drunk is the only effective remedy against 
the poison, and that is thoroughly effective; hence the ex- 
tract of rye, wheat, or corn is no unimportant part of a 
campaigner's pharmacopoeia. Hot lemonade is an excel- 
lent preventive of fever and ague — a fact which I have 
thoroughly proved in several cases ; and if it is mixed with 
a strong dose of good Holland gin, it may banish the dis- 
ease within a few hours. A wine-glass of this mixture 
taken twice a day acts both as a tonic and as an opponent 
of that most disagreeable malady; and I am free to say 
that few persons who try it will find it ineffective. 

Fly-bites may be prevented by applying a light coating 
of tar and sweet-oil to the face and hands ; and if disturbed 
by flies around the camp-fire, one should move to the smoky 
side ; but if he uses tobacco, he might light his pipe on any 
side and enjoy the pleasure of hearing their song, while he 
knows they dare not come near him. 

To avoid fleas, boughs of trees should be used for a bed 
on the ground instead of hay or straw, and all dogs should 
be banished the tent and forced to keep in their own domi- 
ciles, if they have one ; if not, to lie around the fire, or in 
some extemporized shelter. 

In taking care of horses, it is necessary that they should 
be hobbled with side lines, or picketed, while grazing, to 
prevent them from straying away or being stampeded by 
any cause. The picket -ropes for each animal should be 
thirty or forty feet long, and be attached to an iron ring in 
a stout leathern headstall, and to a swivel-ring in an iron 
pin which is driven almost to the head in the ground, and 
so firmly planted that a horse, in its wildest terror, could 
not withdraw it. 

A strict watch should always be kept over the animals ; 
for there ai*e thieves, both white and red, in some portions 



30 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

of the region who would not hesitate a moment to steal 
them if it could be done without actually risking their lives. 
This statement is true to only a limited extent, for there are 
other parts of the country where they might be left for 
years, and no person would probably molest them. Vigi- 
lance is, however, a virtue which will be well repaid there, 
and it should be exercised to the fullest extent. If en- 
camped anywhere in the vicinity of an Indian settlement, 
a guard should be mounted at night and kept up until day- 
light. The reliefs might be changed every two hours; and 
this short time, even if there is no danger, could be employ- 
ed to good advantage in keeping the fire burning bright- 
ly, or in preventing the intrusion of thieving quadrupeds. 
Sentinels wishing to note the approach of objects can do it 
best by lying on the ground, face downward, and looking 
toward the horizon ; and by applying the ear to the ground, 
the advance of bodies can be heard when some distance 
away, and, after a little experience, their character and route 
may be pretty accurately surmised. 

A guard should never stand up in sight of the camp 
when on duty at night, as he is more likely to be seen by 
foes than he is to see them ; and he ought, if possible, to be 
placed on some crest overlooking as large a tract of coun- 
try as it is convenient to survey, or take up his position in 
a tree. He should be under shelter where it is available, 
and he ought never expose his full outline in any case. In 
a region where Indians are very active or threatening, the 
guards should be increased, the animals picketed in camp 
or tied up every night, the wagons placed in such a man- 
ner that they could be used for cover in case of attack, and 
the camp so situated that it could be assaulted only at a 
serious disadvantage to the assailants. It should be pro- 
tected as much as possible by crags, bluffs, or woods ; for 
though it may be safe from the red men, it is often endan- 
gered by the causeless stampede of terror-stricken steeds, 
which gallop madly over everything, from tent to man. 

Weapons should always be kept ready for prompt use in 
case they might be needed, and every man ought to know 



HINTS TO STORTSMEN, 31 

at once where to place his hand on his own, even in the 
darkness. 

All these precautions may be unnecessary ; yet it would 
be well to pay some attention to them when parties are 
camping out, and are traversing new or dangerous ground, 
as a detachment of white or red thieves might consider a 
raid upon a camp a profitable enterprise, and nothing proves 
so efficacious an antidote to their avariciousness as a few 
prompt and well- delivered bullets. In ordinary hunting 
expeditions there is very little danger of being attacked by 
anything fiercer than a wounded animal, and that in very 
rare instances ; so that, except under very unusual circum- 
stances, life is as safe there as it would be in the heart of a 
great city, if not safer. 

Sporting dogs of all kinds can be utilized in every quar- 
ter of the country ; but the most valuable are pointers, 
setters, and hounds. The greyhound can be employed in 
coursing hares and antelopes ; the deerhound, for following 
on open ground the lordly elk, burly moose, or swift and 
cunning white -tailed deer; the terrier, for routing foxes 
and badgers from their burrows, or measuring its strength 
against them in deadly combat; while the beagle, harrier, 
fox and otter hound will find all the work they wish to do, 
and more than they may care for, almost every day in the 
year. 

The weapons required for the chase in the region are a 
rifle, a breech -loading shot-gun, a heavy revolver, and a 
good hunting-knife. The rifle should be of large calibre, 
not less than forty-five at least, and its trajectory should be 
as flat as possible ; for in shooting at rapidly moving game 
one cannot stop to elevate the rear sights ; and even if he 
did, he might raise the wrong one, in his hurry and excite- 
ment, and shoot either over or under the quarry. It is, be- 
sides, a difficult matter to estimate distances in that coun- 
try, even with an extensive experience, owing to the clear- 
ness of the atmosphere, which causes all objects to seem 
nearer than they actually are. For shooting on treeless 
plateaus at a distance of three hundred yards and under, I 



32 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

have found the Express rifle to be the best of arms, as I 
used the same sight, with the exception of its being a lit- 
tle coarser, at objects one hundred and fifty yards away 
that I did at those only fifty, and I found very little dif- 
ference between my accuracy at both ranges. The double 
Express has one fault, however, and that is that both bai - - 
rels do not shoot with equal precision, and, in hunting, a 
person sometimes forgets which barrel he is shooting; so 
fails to allow for its peculiarities, and the result is often a 
serious miss. A single-barrelled weapon is devoid of this 
fault; but then it is not so convenient as the preceding, 
especially where one desires to plant his bullets rapidly in 
the body of a running animal that may get out of range be- 
fore a second ball can be inserted and aim taken. The for- 
mer, even with its failing, may therefore be said to be the 
better of the two. I have found the Winchester magazine 
or repeating rifle very convenient for general shooting; but 
that also had its faults, not the least of which was that the 
bullet would sometimes tilt as soon as it reached the breech 
from the magazine, at seemingly the most critical moment; 
and ere it could be extricated and placed in its proper posi- 
tion, the game would probably be out of sight. I was com- 
pelled to leave a buffalo hunt on two occasions on account 
of this serious defect in its working, and I have several 
times lost a deer through the same cause. Another fault 
that it possessed for shooting heavy game was that the 
charge of powder it carried was too small, and, as a matter 
of course, its driving power was not great enough to give 
hard-killing animals a fatal wound ; but it atoned in some 
respect for this by the rapidity with which it could be fired 
when the magazine was full. I understand that it has been 
improved very much recently, so the failings I mention may 
exist no longer. 

Some excellent single-barrel sporting rifles are now made, 
both in Europe and the United States, which are quite ac- 
curate up to four or five hundred yards, and carry powder 
and ball enough to kill a large animal within that distance. 
These are very useful weapons for huntiug the grizzly bear, 



Ill NTS TO SPORTSMEN. 33 

mountain -sheep, wild goat, and buffalo, which are some- 
times rather difficult of near approach, and such denizens 
of the woods and coppices as the moose, elk, deer, black 
bear, and cougar. 

The most effective weapon that I ever used was a fifty- 
calibre Springfield rifle, which was resighted so that its 
point-blank range was one hundred and fifty yards. This 
was almost as accurate at three hundred yards as it was at 
half the distance, and I have killed a wolf with it nearly 
four hundred yards away. As the greater number of ani- 
mals are killed within three hundred yards, a rifle that can 
be depended upon up to that distance is good enough for 
all practical purposes; but it should have no rear sights. 
Some hunters west of the Rocky Mountains use a " buck- 
horn" or an ivory sight; but I have found that an ordinary 
sight, nickel-plated at the inner tip, was equally as good, 
and was less liable to injury if made rather long, and fast- 
ened well. 

Explosive bullets are now used by some sportsmen in 
their encounters with bears, cougars, buffaloes, and the 
larger species of deer; but, as at present made, they can- 
not always be relied upon to explode when wanted, and 
they are sometimes rather dangerous to the carrier. When 
well made, however, and not so sensitive as to explode on 
merely touching the animal, they are not only compara- 
tively safe, but the most merciful and effective missiles 
known for killing heavy game, as they destroy them at 
once. Yet I would not recommend them. 

A very good word may be said in favor of the hollow 
bullets, as they are certainly superior to the solid in mak- 
ing a large wound and in paralyzing the game; but they 
have the fault of want of very deep penetration unless they 
are fired at short range and with high charges of powder, 
one hundred and twenty grains at least being required to 
give them force enough to kill large animals at a distance 
of one hundred and fifty or two hundred yards. Like the 
explosive shells, they are also difficult to procure in the Far 
West, and this forces one to cast them himself. That they 

2* 



34 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

possess decided advantages over the conical ball at short 
ranges, is undoubted ; hence those who do not care to try 
long shots would find them very effective, and would lose 
less game with them than they would with the conical bul- 
let fired with ninety-five grains of powder. 

For forest-shooting a rifle cannot be compared to a good 
breech-loading gun charged with buckshot, as a single ball 
is liable to be swerved from its course by trees and matted 
shrubbery. One may fire at a deer with a rifle several 
times in the dense woods and miss it, whereas he may tum- 
ble it over at once with a close of buckshot, as some of the 
charge is likely to hit in a vital part. The best gun that I 
know of is a ten-bore, weighing from nine and a quarter 
to ten pounds, and having a length of barrel of thirty-two 
inches; for that can stop anything that runs in the forests 
less tenacious of life than a grizzly bear, and it is equally 
useful for shooting fur or feather. 

I prefer good wood-powder to any other, as I have found 
it to make a good pattern, to have excellent penetration, to 
be cleaner than the ordinary powder, and to make less of 
a report, and little smoke. The latter two characteristics 
are most desirable, as the detonations do not startle game, 
and a person's aim with the second barrel is not obscured 
by smoke. 

Every sportsman ought to have some knowledge of 
wood-craft and the characteristics of the animals he wishes 
to hunt. The latter is necessary to success, and the former 
to enable him to make his way through regions unknown 
to him ; for it is as disagreeable as it is a serious matter 
to get lost in a dense forest or on a trackless prairie. In 
North-western America, where settlements are often few 
and far between, and there are no roads to indicate a per- 
son's course, it is almost maddening to find yourself wan- 
dering stupidly about in an aimless manner, and not know- 
ing which way to turn to reach camp or a cabin. I was 
lost twice in the forest, and once on the prairie ; and I re- 
member vividly how I wandered about, now wading deep 
and rapid streams, plunging headlong through marshes that 



HINTS TO SPORTS Jl EX. 35 

threatened to ingulf me at every step, clambering like a 
squirrel over felled and slippery trees and up steep bluffs, 
dashing down precipices with the celerity of a mountain 
goat, or rushing through heavy shrubbery, that lashed my 
face incisively, with almost the ease of a startled fawn. I 
was only a short distance from camp on these occasions, 
yet I could not find it, although I moved around it in a 
circle. One cause of this was that it was night, and that I 
could not tell by leaves, trees, or footsteps where I was go- 
ing; I was, therefore, compelled to sleep alone in the lonely 
forest and amidst wild animals more than once — incidents 
by no means pleasant. Had not my companions been bet- 
ter backwoodsmen than I was, I would in all probability 
have been lost, for I was in a portion of the forest where it 
would have been almost impossible to track me, and where' 
I must have died of hunger. I learned from these inci- 
dents not to travel in unknown forests without a compass; 
to take bearings of all the prominent landmarks, and the 
peculiarities of the trees on my route ; and not to depend 
on the sound of a horn to lead me to camp in a region cov- 
ered with woods and seamed by canyons, as the latter 
cause an echo to sound in every direction, and to repeat it 
from so many quarters at the same time that one gets be- 
wildered. I have been much in the forest since then ; and 
though I have sometimes had to grope my way through it 
in doubting fear, yet, by carrying a compass, I was always 
enabled to reach my destination in time enough to prevent 
any apprehensions about my safety. It may be all well 
enough for persons who know a piece of woods as well as 
they do their own kitchen, to smile at the caution of those 
who carry a compass to guide them back to camp ; yet I, 
for one, would advise the sporting novice to pay no heed 
to their criticisms, and to consider life, or even the danger 
of getting lost, of much more importance than any idle rid- 
icule. I would, therefore, never move out without one, 
even if it were only for a distance of a few miles, unless I 
was familiar with the country. 

After some experience in wood-craft, and learning to be a 



36 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

careful observer, one may find camp in the densest forest 
almost as easily as he would in a glade. The first thing in 
starting out in the morning is to note the position of the 
encampment and its immediate surroundings, paying par- 
ticular attention to any peculiar or prominent landmarks, 
streams, tarns, or rocks, and the direction in which they 
lie from it. The region traversed during the day, if one 
is alone, should also be impressed on the memory; or it 
might be "blazed "at intervals by scoring trees with a 
knife, breaking the boughs of some of the shrubbery, or 
dropping a stone here and there, so that they might be 
readily seen in case the return was made by the same 
route. A person ought also to carefully scan the principal 
trees, and remember any individuality they might possess; 
as, for instance, on which side the moss grew thickest — 
generally the north, and on which side the boughs were 
longest and most abundant — always the south. If one 
thinks he is lost, he should retrace his steps as carefully as 
possible, and that he can readily do in the woods ; and if 
night overtakes him ere he can reach camp, he should not 
get alarmed, but make himself as comfortable as he can 
under the circumstances, and wait for daylight to continue 
his work. 

As the most cautious and careful of persons may some- 
times be compelled to make a temporary shelter for them- 
selves away from their companions, it would be well to al- 
ways carry a supply of matches in a pocket for the purpose 
of building a fire, as that is useful in many ways, besides its 
heat and cheerfulness. 

If the trail becomes indistinct, it may be followed by rais- 
ing the eyes and allowing them to glance a little way ahead; 
then any impressions on the ground or leaves, or any disar- 
rangement of the grass and shrubbery, is readily seen. The 
scanning glance should be rapid, as the line is likely to be- 
come blank to the gazer if it is looked at steadily for any 
length of time. Another fact that may be noted is, that 
wild animals — and as for that the domestic also — run 
against the wind when startled ; and if one knows from 



HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. 37 

what direction that blows, ho may be able to extricate 
himself from his dilemma in a short time. 

In the woods bordering the Pacific Ocean water is gener- 
ally abundant, so that a person need not suffer from thirst; 
yet if he should by accident be in a section where it is scarce, 
he may obtain enough to allay his craving by digging a 
small hole in a marshy spot, filling it with grass, then apply- 
ing to it any hollow tube, and using the mouth for a suc- 
tion. A refreshing drink may also be obtained from maple 
or birch, if one has only a knife with which to scar them. 
If one cannot find water or camp by searching on the 
ground, he might be successful by climbing a tall tree and 
surveying the landscape before him. If he seeks the for- 
mer, he may discover it by noting a break in the forest ; if 
the latter, by the smoke of the fire, which is nearly always 
kept burning. I have found a good long lariat useful for 
climbing the gigantic trees of the Pacific, as the boughs are 
so high up and the trunks so thick that no ordinary person 
can reach their summit without some such assistance as the 
lariat gives ; and it is exceedingly useful for swinging at 
once out of the reach of an angry bear. 

In trailing animals, one may, after a little experience, tell 
their size by the spread of the feet on the ground ; their 
weight, by the depth of the impression made ; the speed at 
which they moved, by the intervals between the paces; the 
length of time since they passed over a spot, by the fresh- 
ness of the tracks; and whether they were startled or not, 
by the condition of the grass, leaves, or soft ground. 

If they have been wounded seriously, it may be detected 
by drops of blood, or by the irregular and straddling char- 
acter of the gait ; hence it may be said that a habit of close 
observation of the imprints on the earth will reveal to one 
the names of animals that visit a region, their motives in 
travelling, and their condition and numbers, almost as readi- 
ly as if lie saw them before him. 

All game quadrupeds should be hunted up wind, seldom 
across it, and never down, as scent is to them what sight is 
to birds and feeling to mankind. The best time for pur- 



38 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

suing them is the early morning or late evening, as they rest 
during the day. 

A good idea would be to carry a field-glass. I have found 
it of great use in many cases, and have seen game with it 
that otherwise would be lost to us. This is especially true 
in hunting on the mountains and prairies, as many animals 
look so much like their surroundings that, even when in 
motion, they cannot be seen at any great distance. 

No person should start out in the morning without par- 
taking of something to eat, even if it were only a biscuit or 
a cup of tea or coffee, as any of these fortifies the stomach 
against the chills of the morning, and prevents the nausea 
of hunger. I have known several sturdy and enthusiastic 
sportsmen to be injured by their habit of starting out at 
daybreak to kill something before breakfast, not that it was 
wanted, but that they wished to make their list large dur- 
ing the trip or the season. They may be able to defy the 
laws of nature for awhile, but I have found they were the 
first to succumb in the long-run. 

To be a successful Nimrod, one must be patient, cautious, 
and persevering ; mere dash is of little avail, except under 
favorable circumstances, and they are not common in hunt- 
ing large wild animals. The best hunters that I have known 
Avere exceedingly keen in sight and hearing, and were close 
observers of the ground aiid the haunts and habits of ani- 
mals ; not that they possessed these qualities in any extraor- 
dinary degree naturally, but that their constant exercise de- 
veloped them to the fullest extent. These men were not by 
any means the ideals of the novelist — tall and thin, of an 
iron frame, and with muscles like steel springs; nor were 
they so taciturn that one could not get a sentence out of 
them except by a great deal of persuasion. Neither were 
they always indulging in hyperbole when they did speak, or 
execrating the whole red race ; many of them were, on the 
contrary, simple and unpretentious men, who were as socia- 
ble as men could be, and who bore no sort of resemblance, 
either in form, manner, language, or expression, to Leather- 
stockings or any of his ilk. They could not hit an acorn 



HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. 39 

many miles away, nor did they perform heroic feats in hug- 
ging a grizzly bear to death or killing every animal they 
fired at; yet they could give an excellent account of them- 
selves in a hunt lasting a week or two, or even a whole 
season. 

Another thing may be asserted — namely, that the best 
shots at game may be of no account in firing at a target. 
Both systems are entirely different ; for he who may be an 
excellent long-range rifleman may be of no use in the field, 
and is liable to be beaten by a man who does not know the 
first principles, in theory, of rifle-shooting, and cannot tell a 
Vernier sight from a sardine box. To be a successful hunt- 
er requires practice more than anything else, but, of course, 
a naturally good eye and the bump of calculation are valu- 
able adjuncts to practice; yet I am free to say that any or- 
dinary person can become a successful hunter in time, pro- 
vided he has the ordinary five senses and sound limbs, if 
he has practice. 



40 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE GEIZZLT BEAR. 

The Grizzly Bear. — Its Haunts, Habits, Size, and General Characteristics. 
— Fear of the Human Voice. — Its great Strength and Courage. — Fight 
between a Bear and Buffaloes. — The most Effective Means of killing 
it.— Anecdotes of Men killed and wounded by it. — Best Weapons for 
stalking it. — Is said not to touch a Man if he pretends to be Dead. — 
Examples. — How three Indians captured One. — Great Warriors and 
Grizzlies. — Value of Claws. — Judge Blank brings a Live Grizzly into 
Camp in a New Way.— Grizzly Bill. — Two Indians treed. — Subsequent 
Death of One. — A New Mode of killing a Grizzly in the West. —Its 
Intractability and Selfish Nature. — How Mexicans capture it. — Is fre- 
quently killed by Hunters and Sportsmen single-handed. — My First 
Grizzly. — A Hunt after a Grizzly with Indians. — I am treed. — Death of 
a Warrior. — The Funeral Ceremony. — The Body subsequently devoured 
by Wolves. — A Comrade and Myself kill one in Wyoming. — A Grizzly 
invades the Camp. — The Midnight Alarm and Hunt. — I wound a Cub, 
and am chased by the Dam. — The Retreat. — Indian Anecdote of the 
Affection of a Grizzly for her Young. — Horseback Hunt with Greasers 
in California. — Our Trophies. — Death of a Horse, and wounding of its 
Rider. — We lasso Two Cubs. — Which is the King of Beasts — the Lion 
or the Grizzly ? 

The grizzly bear ( Ursus horribilis or ferox) ranges from 
Mexico in the south to British America in the north, and 
from the Rocky Mountains in the east to the hills adjoining 
the Pacific Ocean south of the forty-second parallel of north 
latitude in the west. In size, strength, and ferocity it is the 
monarch of the American animal world, and even man him- 
self has to yield it undisputed sway in many cases. It dif- 
fers from all its family not only in ponderosity of propor- 
tions, but in courage, fierceness, and intractability, and in 
being more strongly carnivorous, with the exception, per- 
haps, of the polar -bear. It also ranks far above them in 
the enormous size of its soles, the length of its claws, and 
the breadth and depth of its head; but it is inferior to them 
in length of tail, and in the quality of its fur and flesh. I 



TEE GRIZZLY BEAR. 41 

have heard of some that attained a length of nearly nine 
feet and a weight of thirteen hundred pounds, but these 
were far above the average in size. I have seen some that 
measured seven feet in length, and weighed over nine hun- 
dred pounds when in good condition, and these were thought 




GRIZZLY B 



to be rather large in the Rocky Mountain region ; but I 
should judge that those found in warmer climates, such 
as Southern California, Arizona, and other places, were not 
only larger, but also fiercer, than their northern kindred. 



42 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

The forehead of the grizzly is broad, flattish, and nearly 
on a line with the nose; the ears are longer than the tail, 
and are more arched and conical than those of the black 
bear ; the legs are thick, and very powerful ; the claws are 
exceedingly long, ranging from two and a half to six inches, 
and project some distance beyond the hair of the foot ; and 
the foot has a length of about eighteen inches. The claws 
are very sharp, and so dense that they cut like a keen sabre 
when the animal uses them; and, to make them as effective 
as possible, nature has made the fore claws double the 
length of the hinder. 

The grizzly has an erect mane between the shoulders ; 
a dark dorsal stripe from the occiput to the tail ; a lateral 
one on each side along the flanks, but nearly concealed by 
the light tips ; and the intervals between the stripes are 
lightest in hue. The hairs on the body are a brownish- 
yellow, with hoary tips occasionally; the muzzle is pale; 
the parts around the ears are dusky ; the legs are inclined 
to be darkish in hue ; and the tail is so short .is to be hid- 
den by hair. The presence of this giant may be known 
long before it is seen, by the size of its footsteps, and es- 
pecially by their great width. 

This is the bear of the mountains, as its congener is of 
the forests and lowlands ; yet it is not confined in its habi- 
tat to rugged regions, but goes wherever food is to be 
found. It is a denizen of nearly all the States and Terri- 
tories west of the Rocky Mountains, but it is not met far- 
ther north than the forty-second parallel on the Cascade 
Range, or about the junction of Oregon and California. It 
roams to British America, however, in another direction, 
by following the lower chains that trend northward from 
the Rocky Mountains, and is as abundant in some portions 
of that country as it is farther south. 

It hibernates during the winter in the northern regions; 
yet it is not unusual to see an old male out in search of 
food during the coldest weather, but I doubt if one ever 
saw cubs or gravid females. To encounter the animal dur- 
ing these expeditions in search of pabulum is a dangerous 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 43 

matter, as it will not hesitate a moment to attack anything 
living, from a man to a mouse ; and the one is of about as 
much consequence to it as the other, for it can crush the 
former at once with a blow from its powerful paw or the 
pressure of its massive jaws. It will, in ordinary cases, 
avoid an encounter with man, unless startled suddenly or 
cornered ; but when it is hungry, angry, or suffering from 
petulance during the rutting season, it seems to lose its 
fear of everything, and to be ready to fight without the 
least provocation. When surprised, it rises with a deep, 
gruff, bass-drum-like " huff, huff," that recalls the giants 
of the fairy tales ; and when it commences an attack it 
charges vigorously. Notwithstanding its clumsy form, it 
can run rapidly, owing to its enormous strength, and woe 
betide the man who cannot then find a tree convenient, for 
that is his only refuge, if he is alone, as the grizaly cannot 
climb, owing, according to the assertions of the Indians, 
to the form of its claws. It can climb trees when young, 
however; so its great weight may have something to do 
with its inability to accomplish such a feat at adult age. 
Should a man seek safety even in a tree, he is liable to be 
made a prisoner for several hours, for the bear will not, it 
is said by hunters, leave until night sets in or it becomes 
hungry. 

Should a person meet it suddenly when he is alone, he 
should not run unless he could do so with some assurance 
of success, for it is almost sure to pursue if it is at all with- 
in convenient distance. The best thing in that case would 
be to try the effect of a few screams, for, great and pow- 
erful as the grizzly is, it is very much afraid of the human 
voice, and often flees from it. It has been known to turn 
tail and run, even when preparing to attack, on hearing 
the terrified screams of a man ; and I heard of a woman 
in Siskiyou County, California, who caused a female grizzly 
and her two cubs to beat a rapid retreat by shouting lusti- 
ly at them when the former began to show signs of being 
dangerous. An unusual noise of any kind is liable to 
alarm it, if it is not hungry ; but such means of driving it 



44 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

away cannot be relied upon, and the only efficacious mode 
of circumventing it is to avoid an encounter, or to give 
it the contents of a heavy rifle. Even with the lat- 
ter, one is not always sure of victory, for it is probably 
one of the hardest animals in the world to kill. I have 
known it to carry away several ounces of lead and then 
outrun its pursuers; and I knew one to be hit with ten 
heavy bullets before relinquishing its spirit. This tenac- 
ity of life is accounted for by its great strength, thick- 
ness of hide, powerful and strongly resistant muscles, and 
the form of the skull, which affords good protection to 
the brain. 

Its strength may be inferred from the fact that it has 
been known to kill two combative buffaloes in Montana, in 
about as many minutes, by strokes of its huge forepaws, 
and subsequently to drag a heavy bull, which must have 
weighed at least twelve hundred pounds, a distance of 
several hundred yards, and bury it in a hole which it ex- 
cavated with its claws. It can kill a man with one fair 
blow, and can crush him as it would an egg-shell, should 
he ever get locked in its embrace ; while it can tear the 
hide off the thick-skinned buffalo with a sweep of its cim- 
eter-like claws. 

I have heard old hunters say that the most effective way 
of killing this Western monarch is to shoot it in the chest 
when it rises on its hind-legs to survey an adversary previ- 
ous to advancing to the assault, as one is then almost sure 
of reaching a vital part, or at least of crippling it so much 
as to prevent it from running rapidly. A shot in the lungs 
is certainly sickening, if not paralyzing, and is liable to pro- 
duce internal hemorrhage. A person should not attack 
the animal with impunity, however, unless he is in company 
with others, and is well armed, for it is as fierce as the lion 
when aroused, and is far more dangerous ; as it will pur- 
sue a hunter vigorously, if it can run, should he wound it, 
whereas the other is content with a bound, and, if it misses 
its object, to wait and crouch for another. 

The number of persons who have lost their lives through 



THE GRIZZLY BEAU. 45 

their foolhardiness in attacking the grizzly at a disadvan- 
tage, or with poor weapons, is by no means small ; and 
were it not for the fact that others sought safety in con- 
venient trees when pursued, it would be much greater. A 
man in Northern California who attacked the animal sin- 
gle-handed, and at close quarters, was supposed to have 
been killed by it with a single blow of its paw; for when 
found by his friends a few days after, he was scarcely rec- 
ognizable, as the flesh was torn off the scalp, face, and 
chest, the ribs were crushed in, and the arms and thighs 
were broken. 

Another man, who formed one of a party of hunters who 
were out in search of deer in California, encountered a 
grizzly suddenly while passing through a coppice in which 
manzanita formed the undergrowth. The bear was eating 
the berries of this shrub, of which it is very fond, and will 
travel far to procure, and strongly protested with muffled, 
thundering huffs, at being disturbed during its meal. The 
hunter being dazed by the suddenness of the meeting, and 
terrified by the growls, knew not what to do at first; but 
after a short hesitation he concluded to face about and 
hasten out of the shrubbery, and, acting on this impulse, he 
tore through it at his highest speed. The bear, which had 
made no threatening demonstration before that time, seem- 
ed to have been aroused into fury by the noise and action 
of the fugitive, so after him it ran. The race was a short 
one, for the enormous weight of the grizzly carried all ob- 
stacles before it, and the man was overtaken inside a dis- 
tance of one hundred yards, and hurled to the earth with 
one blow. The fall stunned him for a few moments, and, 
when he recovered his senses, he found that he was being 
dragged away by the arm, the bear evidently having de- 
cided to bury him for future use. Though sick at heart 
from the pain of his arm and his forcible passage through 
the bushes, he concluded to keep quiet, hoping that some- 
thing would turn up to give him an opportunity of escap- 
ing, or, if the worst came to the worst, to enable him to ex- 
tricate himself from a living grave. He had been dragged 



46 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

along only a very short distance when the bear came to a 
deep canyon ; and as it could not carry him conveniently 
down this steep without changing its hold, it let go the 
arm and seized him by the neck. This was too much for 
the equanimity of the stoic, so he gave a loud and piercing 
yell of terror that rang all over the coppice, and was echoed 
and re-echoed in thundering tones by the rock-bound prec- 
ipice and the adjacent woods. This unexpected alarm 
caused the bear to drop its prey suddenly and to scamper 
away panic-stricken; and to be sure that it did not return, 
the hunter gave another unearthly yell, which was thunder- 
ed in every direction by the trees, shrubs, and rocks. Wild 
with joy at his miraculous escape, he jumped to his feet, 
but, on arising, he found himself so stiff and sore that he 
could scarcely move, while his left arm hung limp and use- 
less at his side. Making the best of his way out of the 
woods, he reached camp, and there fell in a swoon, which 
must have lasted some time, as he could not remember any- 
thing until he found one of his comrades bathing his face 
and trying to arouse him. An examination of his body 
proved that the bones of the forearm were broken, but that 
there were no injuries on the back beside some deep flesh- 
wounds which bled freely, and the temporary paralysis of 
a few muscles. 

Using their rude surgery, the hunters stopped the bleed- 
ing, and, leaving him in camp, they started out the next 
day in search of the assailant, and returned in the evening 
with a four-year-old female dragging at the end of their 
lariats. As she was supposed to have done all the harm, 
her head was cut off and given as a trophy to the victim 
of her anger, and, if he is not now dead, it adorns his cabin 
in Humboldt County. 

A man whom I knew well was killed by a grizzly in the 
Sierra Nevada Mountains. He also was out in search of 
deer in Butte County, and, meeting a bear, attacked and 
wounded it, then followed it into the dense shrubbery, 
where he must have been killed at once by a sudden blow ; 
for, when found, he displayed no injuries except that the 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 47 

head was crushed, and the scalp torn off by the Maraaluke 
cut of the claws. 

I knew another who was so severely injured in a contest 
with one that he is to-day a cripple, and can scarcely lift a 
hand or a foot, while one eye is completely gone. He also 
wounded the animal, but was not able to escape from it, 
and were it not for the timely arrival of two companions 
he would have been killed. 

I heard of two Piute Indians who were surprised by a 
grizzly while out picking blueberries, and were killed so 
suddenly that they hardly knew what hurt them ; and of a 
Blackfoot, in Montana, who was attacked on horseback by 
one; but he, fortunately, escaped with only a serious wound, 
by deserting his steed. The numbers of casualties result- 
ing from encounters with grizzly bears might be extended 
to a volume, for many of the early pioneers of the Pacific 
Coast, who lived by hunting or trapping, had an experience 
of them, and not a few gave their life as a forfeit for it. 

The incidents given will, however, show that it is no an- 
imal to play with, and that, unless one is prepared for a 
contest of life and death, he ought to give it a wide berth, 
should he not have a decided advantage in every way. 
To encounter it, then, with any degree of success, one 
needs the most approved weapons ; and they should be 
heavy enough to kill it at once, or to give its nervous 
system such a shock as would deprive it of all j^ower to 
do harm. A hollow bullet fired from an Express rifle will 
often kill it immediately, if planted in a vital part; but it 
is more likely to merely sicken it, or to incite it to mad 
deeds of violence. A good bone-smasher is a heavy, solid, 
and spherical bullet fired from an Express rifle. Shells are 
also good ; but they are dangerous to handle, and are, in 
too many cases, ineffective, as they explode as soon as they 
touch the body; and even if they enter, one cannot be sure 
of their bursting. They are, besides, difficult to procure, 
and are, in my estimation, almost as dangerous to the 
hunter as to the hunted. A capital rifle for stalking the 
grizzly would be an eight- bore, carrying twelve drachms 



48 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

of powder; or a No. 12, carrying six drachms, might be 
found convenient. The objections to these are, that they 
are too cumbersome for general shooting, and too heavy 
to be carried about except on particular occasions. A 
good fifty-calibre Express rifle may, therefore, be said to 
be the best for general purposes; and if one can use that 
to good advantage he need have little fear of grizzlies, if 
he will only manage to keep them at a safe distance for a 
run before commencing the attack. For my own part, I 
should not care to get nearer than one hundred yards at 
least, and a few feet more might not be disagreeable, if 
there were to be a fight for supremacy, and trees were 
scarce. 

The grizzly will not, it is said, touch a man if he remains 
motionless on the ground, and does not breathe loudly; and 
so generally is this believed that the Indians have a saying 
that a man lying down is medicine to a bear, but the trap- 
pers say that " Ephraim " is good medicine only when you 
let him severely alone ; and their general instruction to 
novices is not to fight him except in self-defence. 

As a proof that the grizzly will not injure a man who 
pretends to be dead, a tale is told of Tarpello, a Snake In- 
dian, who was knocked down and wounded in the back by 
one of these giants ; but on falling he took excellent care to 
lie perfectly still, and to bury his mouth, nostrils, and eye- 
lids in the deep alkali dust, so that his breathing could not 
be perceived. The grizzly, after sniffing at him and rudely 
pawing him about for awhile, must have concluded he was 
dead, for it retreated without doing him any further injury. 

When it entered the shrubbery the wily red man arose, 
and started for home as fast as his legs would carry him, 
and told his wondering spouses, children, and kindred of 
his miraculous escape. The tale spread all over the village 
in a short time; and when the medicine-man heard it, he 
predicted that the lucky man had such strong medicine 
that he would yet capture his assailant, and, to strengthen 
his power, the whole tribe was ordered to commence the 
bear -dance immediately, and to keep it up until the next 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 49 

morning. The mandate was promptly complied with, and 
each brave, donning his bear mask or skin, danced as he 
had never done before, while the vocal appeal of all to the 
great bear spirit to be kind to them was sung with the 
greatest esprit. As soon as they had imitated all the atti- 
tudes and cries of the bear with mouth, hands, and feet, 
Tarpello jumped into the bounding circle and roared and 
danced like a mad man, or bear; but every time he at- 
tempted to escape he was driven back, no matter how sud- 
den his onslaughts were, nor how varied his stratagems. 
When the dance was over, the doctor told him his medicine 
power and heart were so great that he would kill his foe 
and bring joy to the whole tribe through his prowess, if he 
would only follow his advice; and this he promised to do. 
Having received his instructions, he and two of his kindred 
started after their burly foe, and, having found its lair, they 
laid a line of powder toward it from three directions, and 
perching themselves on trees to the leeward, awaited the 
arrival of the dreaded brute. Toward nightfall it was 
heard approaching ; and having allowed it to get comforta- 
bly settled in bed, they fired the powder-trails, then ran for 
shelter to a large crag that lay on the route in which the 
villanous saltpetre was not placed. The powder, when ig- 
nited, spluttered along rapidly and set the grass and dry 
twigs on fire ; and it was not long before the blaze reached 
the lair and sent "Ephraim" out in a tremendous hurry, 
and thoroughly frightened. Making for the only pathway 
free from fire, it ambled rapidly onward ; but on reaching 
the rock on which its enemies were concealed, it was check- 
ed suddenly in its course by having blazing pine knots 
thrown before it. Before it could decide what the new 
danger was, it received volley after volley from the repeat- 
ing rifles of the Indians, who were guided in their aim by 
the lighted torches, and it soon laid a corpse at their feet. 
Highly elated with their success, they dragged the carcass 
to camp on an improvised sledge made of boughs, and held 
a carnival over it for two or three days. All the members 
of the tribe celebrated the victory by a feast on the body, 

3 



50 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. , 

and by indulging in dances ; while the slayers related their 
deeds with all the extravagant language of their race. This 
daring act made them famous at once, and they were con- 
ceded to be the highest type of warriors. From that clay 
forth they always wore a necklace made of the claws of the 
bear as a proof of their bravery and importance. 

An Indian who can wear such ornaments is considered 
to be an invincible warrior ; hence one of his highest ambi- 
tions is to slay the monarch of the mountains, and to deco- 
rate his inodorous neck with its weapons of warfare. I 
remember distinctly with what, to me, seemed ludicrous 
dignity or gravity, a Sioux chief once pointed out a string 
of ugly-looking grizzly claws that hung around his dirty 




NEOKT.AOE OF HEARS OLA.WS. 



neck, and then to the anklets of the same material that en- 
circled his blanket-clad legs, and in what a heroic tone he 
assured me that he had killed their former owner himself, 
and was now considered to be unrivalled as a brave. He 
thought that if the Great Father in Washington knew he 
was so great he would send him plenty of meat, flour, tea, 
coffee, and sugar, and keep him from the necessity of go- 
ing out buffalo-hunting to keep his family from starvation. 
He wished me to tell the Great Father who he really was, 
and what were his wants; and when I, to test the generous 
phase of an Indian's nature, volunteered to do so on condi- 
tion that he gave me the prized trophies, he rejected my 
offer at once, and said he would not part with them on 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 51 

any account; he would rather lose his favorite wife first. 
When he saw that I seemed indifferent to the matter, he said 
that if I could procure him permission to hunt in the Re- 
publican Valley he would give me one claw; and when I 
told him I would not have such articles, as I could get them, 
if I wished, by simply going on a hunt myself, he looked 
rather astonished, if an Indian can express that feeling, and 
grunted out an " uch " of disapprobation, as if he thought 
I was lessening his importance. 

A N"ez Perce sub-chief whom I met in Idaho was also 
exceedingly proud of a necklace of the same material which 
he wore, and strutted around among his compeers as if he 
felt that none could approach him in dignity and courage. 

Hunting the grizzly has its comic side sometimes as well 
as its tragic, though the former is too often the result or 
sequence of the latter. I knew a man in Wyoming named 
Grizzly Bill — an individual who was equally fond of a joke 
and a hunt, but who had a thorough contempt for cold wa- 
ter. All the temperance lecturers in the world could not 
induce him to look with favor on " Adam's ale," and he 
had a standing joke which was uttered many times a day 
when he was in a certain humor. This was, " Look here, 
boys ! don't drink water ; you oughtn't to. You know 
that it rots boots; and if it rots boots, what will it do to 
a man's stomach? Let's have a drink, boys." When he 
had become well acquainted with John Barleycorn, he was 
always willing to tell how he received his sobriquet, and 
he told his tale with such inimitable and unctuous humor 
that an anchorite would laugh at it. Detailed in a few 
words, it was, that while out " prospecting " for gold one 
day in the Wind River Mountains, he was suddenly star- 
tled out of his wits by the muffled roar and the charge of 
a grizzly bear. Not knowing what to do under the cir- 
cumstances, he did what most men would do — he fired at 
the animal, then ran for it. As the bear was closing on 
him, he sought safety in the first tree he met, and that was 
a young fir. Climbing up this with all the speed of terror, 
he was comfortably seated on the strongest branch before 



52 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

his pursuer reached the foot. The latter then commenced 
a regular siege by placing its paws against the tree, look- 
ing savagely upward, and growling spitefully at intervals. 
Bill, feeling safe, took matters philosophically until he be- 
gan to get hungry toward evening, when he commenced 
hurling epithets at the besieger, and told it in vigorous lan- 
guage that it was of mean descent, and was anything but 
a " gentleman " of a bear. This having no effect, he tried 
to hit it in the eye with cones ; but this act only increased 
its anger, and caused it to shake the tree violently, as if it 
would like to shake him down. 

Having used up all the cones within his immediate reach, 
Bill tried to get at some others, and this produced a ca- 
tastrophe he had not expected, for the bough on which he 
had been sitting had been steadily giving way under his 
weight; and when the pressure was removed from the 
strongest to one of its weakest points by his movements, 
it gave way at once, and he went downward with lightning 
speed. He thought, of course, that it was all up with him ; 
but when he reached the base of the perch, instead of fall- 
ing into the jaws of the grizzly, he came plump on its head. 
The sudden onslaught and shock terrified the bear so much 
that it fled with the utmost precipitancy, nor did it halt 
until it reached a place of safety. Bill felt so joyous at 
this unexpected piece of good fortune that he commenced 
dancing vigorously, and, after doing several double-shuffles 
and a breakdown, he picked up his rifle and returned to 
camp, highly elated with his adventure. He told his com- 
rades the story, but they would not believe it until they 
saw the broken tree and the bear-tracks. They, of course, 
told it to others, and Bill received his name. When a lit- 
tle merry he would boast good-humoredly that he was the 
only man in the Territory that had defeated a grizzly with 
his feet alone, and would defy anybody else to accomplish 
the same feat. 

The Earl of Southesk relates a somewhat similar inci- 
dent of two Indians who were treed by a grizzly in British 
America. The tree in which they took refuge was a mere 



TEE GRIZZLY BEAU. 53 

pole, having only one lateral branch, and on this the first 
one up seated himself, while his companion had to try and 
hold on around the trunk with his arms and legs. Such a 
state of things could not, as a matter of course, last long, 
and the wretched man below, as his strength was giving 
way, felt that there were only a few minutes between him- 
self and eternity. When he thought of his wife and young- 
family, he burst into tears and lamentations, and was look- 
ed upon with contempt for doing so by the individual safe 
above. The fatal moment came at length, when his strength 
was exhausted, and abandoning himself to what he could 
not prevent, he closed his eyes and slipped helplessly down 
the tree; but, fortunately for him, the bear was on a line 
beneath him, and he fell on its back. This was a most 
unexpected meeting to the grizzly, and the result was that 
it fled in the wildest panic. Seeing the coast clear, the 
"percher" came down, and accompanied the grizzly-driver 
to the encampment ; but the latter, fearing that his actions 
had been anything but heroic, and that he would be an ob- 
ject of ridicule among his people if they were described, 
offered his companion several presents if he would pre- 
serve secrecy about the matter ; and this he promised, but 
not until after he had stripped the poor fellow of every- 
thing he possessed. A few months later the percher got 
drunk, and went all over the camp proclaiming his com- 
panion's disgrace, and ridiculing him. The latter was so 
incensed at this outrage that he procured a rifle, and going 
to where the scandal-monger was uttering his sentiments, 
shot him dead before all his auditors. These two incidents 
might prove that the most effective means of routing a 
grizzly is to go up a tree and tumble down on it suddenly ; 
yet I would not advise any person to try it. 

Judge — we may say Blank — of San Francisco, a famous 
Nimrod and lover of good wine, had an adventure once 
with a grizzly that displayed both humor and courage. 
Having been elected one of a select few that were going 
out for a week's shooting among the grouse and quail, he 
was asked to be ready to join the party at a very early 



54 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

hour in the morning, so that a camping- place could be 
reached in the afternoon. He agreed on condition that a 
generous supply of a certain fluid was taken along, and, his 
proposition being accepted, everything was made ready for 
a prompt start. The night before starting he attended a 
ball, and before morning was so much under the influence 
of his favorite beverage that he tumbled in the mire sev- 
eral times on his way home, much to the detriment of his 
evening-dress and opera-hat. He had scarcely entered his 
room before a carriage called to take him to the rendez- 
vous, and, despite the earnest protestation of his friends, he 
insisted upon going in the costume he wore, or not at all. 
As ins wit and humor were much needed to enliven camp 
in the evening, he was taken as he stood ; and the party 
having united, they started for the mountains about forty 
miles distant, and there pitched the camp, and lighted a fire 
at once to prepare supper. While that was being cooked, 
a Spaniard approached the group and stated that there was 
a grizzly a few rods off in the bushes. He was asked why 
he did not kill it, and he nonchalantly replied that he had 
lost no bears. The judge, who was dozing near the ashes, 
jumped up when he heard grizzly mentioned, and- said that 
he would bring it into camp. 

His seedy appearance and the quaintness of his hunting 
costume caused his companions to greet his heroic boast 
with roars of laughter, and to chaff him unmercifully; but 
his mettle was up, and with a half-drunken leer he said he 
would prove it; and, seizing an empty shot-gun, he strode 
into the shrubbery. He was not gone more than twenty 
minutes before a tremendous commotion was heard in the 
bushes, and they were seen to sway in every direction. The 
party were alarmed at once, and all seized their weapons 
and prepared for some unknown danger. They had hard- 
ly taken their positions before the bushes parted, and out 
came the judge minus a hat, and running with such speed 
as to cause his hair and coat-tails to flow backward in rig- 
id lines. As he approached his bewildered companions, he 
shouted at the top of his voice, " Clear the track ; here we 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 55 

come, the bear and me, d — n our souls !" They did clear 
the track, and the limb of the law rushed through the fire, 
nor did he stop until he had run a good half-mile to the 
rear. A few yells and shots checked the pursuing Bruin, 
and caused it to retreat; so the foolhardy Blackstone es- 
caped without suffering any greater injury than a good 
scare, and being made the butt of many a joke. When the 
party returned to town, the escapade of the judge was told 
to all his friends; and they decided at once that the bear 
pursued him to get some of the wine out of him, as it knew 
that he generally carried enough for himself and the four 
largest grizzlies in the country, and it was resolved to have 
a share of it if possible. 

They tell some humorous tales in the West of how men 
have killed grizzlies. One man, on being attacked, took 
out his whiskey-bottle and gave the bear a smell of its con- 
tents, and it fell dead at once, after giving a long howl of 
agony. This story is intended to show the vileness of the 
stuff sold in certain sections of the country ; and a vender 
of strong fluids, if not liked, is sometimes called a grizzly- 
killer. Another man was said to be so ugly that a bear, on 
seeing him, committed suicide by hurling itself into a preci- 
pice ; and a ranting, long-winded, dreary preacher was said 
to be so strong in lungs and larynx as to be able to blow a 
grizzly into eternity in three howls. 

Notwithstanding the dangerous character of the animal 
in its wild state, it is capable of being tamed, if taken young, 
and, if treated kindly, will follow one about like a dog, until 
it learns to know its strength ; and then it is apt to assert 
its will and power at inconvenient times. I have seen sev- 
eral of them in a state of semi-domestication in some places 
on the Pacific Coast, but in no instance would they bear too 
much familiarity when they reached adult age ; while they 
were the deadly enemies of anything in the form of flesh, 
from a dog, pig, or chicken to a rat. When the male and 
female are caged together they indulge in the most unseem- 
ly family quarrels, and fight viciously for the least morsel 
of food. The former is a most ungallant brute, and the 



56 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

embodiment of selfishness. From what I have seen of its 
character, I should say that " bearishness " was a much 
more appropriate word for expressing the lowest type of 
self-interest than that homely old word " hoggishness," for 
the suidm are exceedingly generous compared to the griz- 
zly. Its mode of living when wild is not such as to arouse 
our sympathy either, as it preys on the most wretched little 
creatures, such as ants, mice, rats, and squirrels, and, not 
content with destroying them, it devours their small stores 
of nuts and roots. Like its black congener, it is also fond 
of berries, honey, and the pomona, and will risk its life to 
obtain either. As few persons — perhaps no one — make a 
business of hunting this animal, it is not often shot, as it is 
only occasionally met with, and, in most cases, accidentally. 
It is not, fortunately, very common ; and as it avoids the 
haunts of man, it does not do much harm to the farm-yard. 

Those who go out for a grizzly hunt make it a matter of 
sport, if I except the Indians, and, if they seek its abode, it 
is for the purpose of adorning themselves with its claws, 
and boasting of their prowess. They catch it sometimes in 
pitfalls ; and the Sioux formerly chased it on horseback, 
when they found it on open ground, and filled it with ar- 
rows or pierced it with rude lances. The Mexicans of Cali- 
fornia formerly captured it most deftly with lariats ; but to 
do this several were required. Their first movement was 
to charge past it, if it stood erect, and lasso its paws, and, 
if successful in this, they entangled it in their lariats, and 
used their active mustangs to drag it to a convenient spot, 
whei'e it was either killed or safely penned up until it was 
wanted for a contest with a fierce bull. These contests 
were once popular, and were the great feature of holidays, 
but they are now becoming rarer, owing to the advance of 
civilization and the interposition of the law. 

For one man to kill a grizzly single-handed is no ordina- 
ry event, owing to the quantity of lead it can carry, the 
promptitude with Avhich it can generally retreat to cover 
or charge its foe, and to the often inaccessible haunts which 
it frequents; yet it is done occasionally by experienced 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 57 

hunters. A small party of English gentlemen killed seven 
last year in Colorado ; two sportsmen killed six in Dakota 
in a month ; and I knew a hunter in Montana to kill one 
with an army revolver by firing at it from a tree. Num- 
bers are poisoned annually in several parts of the West, 
especially in Colorado, Montana, California, and British 
America ; hence they are getting scarce in the more fre- 
quented sections of the country, and the survivors keep 
to regions remote from settlements, except during unusual- 
ly severe weather, when they make raids on farm -yards. 
They are almost as abundant as ever, though, in Dakota, 
Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho ; but the sooner they begin 
to decrease in these Territories the better will farmers and 
stock-raisers like it, as they are considered anything but 
pleasant acquaintances. 

I have hunted the grizzly occasionally, but generally in 
company with others; and while we killed one now and 
then, yet no person could tell which had given the death- 
shot, so that none could claim the honor. I bagged a large 
male myself one time, but it was done in such a prosaic 
manner that the only interesting thing about it was the 
death. I was passing through a rugged precipice, trying 
to stalk a band of mountain sheep, and, on reaching a small 
abutment of loose rocks, I saw grizzly lapping up some wa- 
ter beneath me. Taking deliberate aim at his head near 
the ear, I fired, and a few moments later he fell over as 
stiff as a stone. On examining him, I found that the bul- 
let had entered the brain through the ear, and produced 
death almost immediately. The whole thing was so sim- 
ple that I scarcely felt a thrill of pleasure on gazing at my 
trophy, and I left it where it fell, in the most unconcerned 
manner, until my hunt after the sheep was over, and then 
I had it sent for by the pioneer at whose house I was 
stopping. 

Grizzlies are most destructive visitors to a camp — a fact 
which I learned on more than one occasion. The most dis- 
agreeable visit that I ever received from one, however, was 
during a trip I was making with a party of Indians who 

3* 



58 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

were on their way to a pow-wow of their tribe, which was 
called to meet a newly-appointed agent and hear his state- 
ments. The band which I accompanied consisted of twen- 
ty men, with their squaws and children, and many horses, 
and that was commanded by a now famous sub-chief, who 
was said to be equally great in the hunting -field and on 
the war- path. Our route led over vast treeless prairies 
and densely wooded hills, until the evening of the second 
day, when we reached a mountain four or five thousand 
feet high. Selecting a beautiful glade for a camp site, 
the tepees were soon erected by the squaws, mine being 
pitched a short distance to the right of the front line. In 
this I placed little delicacies not used by the red men, 
namely, condensed milk, tea, coffee, and sugar, and some 
biscuits, and left them there confidently, while I accompa- 
nied the braves on a hunt after deer, as we had no fresh 
meat for dinner. When we returned late in the evening 
we found the squaws and children in a state of commotion, 
and, on inquiring the meaning of it, learned that a male 
grizzly had visited the camp during their absence in search 
of wild roots and fruits, and had destroyed several parcels 
of dried beef, torn some of the tents, and killed two com- 
bative curs. 

On hearing this, I rushed to ray tepee to see if my little 
stores were injured, but, on reaching it, I was disgusted 
and enraged to find all my delicacies either eaten up or 
trampled into an indiscriminate mess on the ground. The 
cans of condensed milk, a bag of biscuits, and all the sugar 
had been devoured, and the other articles were strewn 
about in the mud, so that they were of no use to me. On 
seeing this condition of affairs, I called on the chief, and 
learned from him that several of his tribe had lost all their 
pemmican, and were actually without any food, except the 
few roots and berries gathered by the squaws, and their 
share of the venison just brought in. All were so angry 
at the action of the burly prowler that they decided to 
have his head if possible ; but for fear he would visit the 
camp during the night and inflict any more damage on the 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 59 

remaining food, or on man and beast, they concluded to 
pitch the camp in a deep chasm a short distance away. 
Into this we marched, accordingly, after dinner; but we 
experienced much difficulty in getting the horses to the 
bottom, owing to the steepness of the walls and the diffi- 
culty of getting a foothold. On reaching the base, the te- 
pees were soon erected, and, when this was done, the horses 
were let loose to pick up such herbage as they could find 
during the night. 

The inmates of the encampment then retired to rest, and 
I should judge that they were soon asleep, as I saw no one 
stirring about ; but I found it impossible to woo gentle 
slumber, owing to the strangeness of my surroundings. 
The chasm was, in the first place, so deep and gloomy that 
the darkness was fairly inky in hue, and so dense that all 
that could be seen were the shadowy walls and the twin- 
kling stars, which seemed to be unusually far away. A 
turbulent river roared past the camp with such power and 
velocity that the air appeared to vibrate ; and, to increase 
the din, several ospreys, which occupied islets in the stream, 
screamed in the loudest manner at intervals, as if they ob- 
jected to the intrusion on their domain. The whole scene, 
which was weird in the extreme, and seemed to belong to 
another planet, or to the land of the ogres rather than to 
this earth, impressed me so much that I could not sleep, 
so I laid and tossed on my hard couch on the ground all 
night. I often sighed for the morning, and was delighted 
on seeing the first gray glimmering of the dawn in the sky 
above. On noticing this, I seized my rifle, and started out 
to find my mustang, for I was rather afraid that he might 
have tumbled into the river during the night, as it hugged 
the banks so closely in some places that there was no shore- 
line, and not even a talus, owing to the strength of the 
current. Groping my way to the right of the camp, I fol- 
lowed the courses of crags or the few open spots where a 
long, dank grass grew in profusion, and in half an hour 
reached a rock which gave me a good view some distance 
up the river. I waited there until the light was strong 



60 SPORTING AD VENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

enough to enable one to note objects distinctly, and when 
that time came I saw the horses huddled together on a 
sort of cape that jutted a considerable way out into the 
stream. On approaching them, I saw that they were trem- 
bling with fright, and, on looking for the cause of it, I be- 
held a large object crouching on the ground about sixty 
yards away, and, on gazing at it intently for a short time, 
I concluded that it was either a bear or a cougar, and that 
it was feasting on something. Taking deliberate aim at it, 
I fired, and, when the report died away, I could hear the 
gruff "huff, huff," of a grizzly; but ere I could load the 
second time it had disappeared behind a mass of crags. 

The shot had alarmed the camp and brought the armed 
warriors rushing toward me, and, in response to their in- 
quiries, I told them in one word what was up. Calling the 
dogs, we followed the bear, and wei'e soon on its tracks, 
passing on our way a partially eaten mustang. The route 
led us up the precipice and into a piece of woods, and 
there the trail was lost by both dogs and men. Being re- 
solved to have the animal if possible, the men deployed, 
and were soon carefully examining every fallen leaf and 
blade of grass in search of Bruin's footsteps. While en- 
gaged in this business, I was startled suddenly by the 
abrupt yelling of a pack of curs directly behind me, and, 
on bounding round to see what it meant, was thunder- 
struck to see a huge male grizzly bearing down on me, 
while the dogs yelped and barked around him, yet took 
excellent care not to go too near him. I had just time 
enough to jump behind a young fir when he went tearing 
past me through the undergrowth, but before he had pro- 
ceeded ten paces I gave him the contents of my breech- 
loader, a large army rifle. I must have struck him badly, 
for he turned round and charged me viciously ; and as no 
other means of escape then presented itself to my mind, 
I scrambled up the tree near which I stood with all the 
speed that the fear of a horrible death could impart to 
limbs that were neither old nor weak. 

I had not reached a perch before my foe was at the base 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 61 

of the tree, but I was beyond the reach of his jaws; and 
this gave me such a feeling of safety that I turned my 
head round to gaze at his position. I could see his huge 
jaws agape, and hear his hot breath come out in gasps, as 
if he were severely wounded ; and on noticing these inci- 
dents I scrambled on a strong bough, and seated myself on 
it with a feeling of pleasure one can only know who has 
been in the same position. On looking down once more, I 
saw the dogs worrying my besieger; but he seemed to 
take little notice of them, and to devote all his attention 
to my situation. In a few moments more he was in full 
retreat, however, for on every side of him were howling 
Indians who were plying bow or rifle as rapidly as possi- 
ble. The raising of the siege induced me to descend at 
once, and, picking up my rifle, which was uninjured, I load- 
ed it, and joined in the chase with five others. Not finding 
any opportunity to fire to good advantage, I reserved my 
fire; and fortunate did this prove for a heedless brave in 
a short time, for while the grizzly was rushing through a 
dense piece of shrubbery, this young warrior placed him- 
self directly in front of him at less than thirty j>aces, and 
fired straight into his face ; but he must have missed his 
aim, for the bear charged him with open mouth, and, be- 
fore he could escape by running, overtook him, knocked 
the rifle out of his hand, and, seizing him by the shoulder, 
bore him to the ground face downward. The brave drew 
his knife promptly, and, turning partially round, began to 
use it on the neck and chest of his huge captor; but he 
was evidently getting the worst of it, for the bear was 
using teeth and claws with a vigor that must soon have 
finished him had not aid arrived. 

While both were struggling fiercely in this contest of 
life and death, the chief and myself appeared on the scene 
from opposite quarters, and, rushing toward the foe, I de- 
livered my fire at his heart at a distance of a few paces ; 
and before he could relinquish his hold to face us, the 
chief gave him the contents of a revolver in rapid succes- 
sion in the head, and he fell over dead, after giving one or 



02 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

two violent gasps. The fallen man was picked up more 
dead than alive, as his arm and chest were fearfully lacer- 
ated, his face was one mass of blood, and his side had the 
flesh torn off from the arm to the abdomen. He was a 
most ghastly object to gaze at, and, as his limp form was 
borne away, I did not expect to see him reach camp alive. 
When re -enforcements arrived several lariats were sent 
for, and with these the fallen monarch was dragged near 
the canyon, and left there while we went to get some break- 
fast. When that was finished, the bear was skinned, and 
the flesh distributed equally among all the hunters ; but it 
became a delicate question as to who should receive the 
claws. I relinquished all pretensions to them, however, in 
the promptest manner, and this was reciprocated by the 
chief giving me the hide. The claws were then divided 
between the chief and the wounded warrior; and the lat- 
ter, I know, felt as delighted with them as if he had cap- 
tured the scalps of several of his foes. 

As the injured man could not be moved, it was decided 
to rest one day to see if he would improve ; and if not, to 
leave him behind and push ahead as rapidly as possible to 
make up for lost time. A second reason for remaining a 
day longer yi camp, though it was only mentioned inci- 
dentally, was to procure meat; for the destruction commit- 
ted by the grizzly had placed several on very short rations, 
and his flesh could not supply the loss. The women were 
commanded to secnre wood for the fires, and while they 
were engaged in that work the braves went on a deer-hunt. 
Their success was greater than could be expected, owing 
to the abundance of the animals and their unsuspicious 
character, as most of them had probably never seen man ; 
so twelve mule-deer were brought into camp in the even- 
ing. When we began to draw near the wigwams Ave heard 
the wailing of women, and this announced to us at once the 
fact that the young brave was dead. On entering the can- 
yon, I noticed that all the female friends of the deceased 
were grouped around his tent and howling fearfully, while 
his aged father and his brothers sat apart in gloomy silence. 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR. G3 

Every person in camp visited the tepee of the young 
man and took a last glance at his features; but they were 
so ghastly that I was glad to hasten away and forget their 
expression. "No person indulged in a word of condolence 
to his parents, and the only comments I heard made by the 
men was a simple " too bad." As the chief would not wait 
another day in camp, the friends of the deceased dug a 
rude grave, and placed him and all his paraphernalia in it, 
without any other covering than his clothes. When this 
simple and hurried ceremony was over, two of his mus- 
tangs and three dogs were killed, and their skins placed on 
a pole above the grave, in order that he might have some 
useful animals in the happy hunting-grounds. To spend 
another night in this wild chasm was anything but a pleas- 
ant anticipation to me, yet there was no avoiding it, so I 
made up my mind to bear it as philosophically as possi- 
ble. Disagreeable as the previous night had been, I found 
the second much worse ; for not only were the same noises 
in operation, but they were increased by the moaning 
of weeping women, the guttural gabble of men grouped 
around the camp-fires, and occasionally by the melancholy 
howling of packs of gaunt wolves that prowled over the 
ground above in search of food. I did manage to get a 
little sleep, however, late in the night, but, when roused in 
the morning, I felt as weary as if I had not closed my eyes. 

After a hasty breakfast, the camp was struck and the 
march resumed, but not a word was uttered by anybody 
about the name or fate of the deceased ; but what struck 
me as most curious was the apparent absence of all signs 
of grief on the features of his kindred, for they laughed 
and chatted as gayly as if they had never known a sorrow, 
and certainly not one so recent. We reached the pow-wow 
two days after, and remained in attendance for three days ; 
and after a lot of useless talk and idle ceremony had been 
indulged in between the Indians belonging to the reserva- 
tion, the agent, and a superintendent of Indian affairs, we 
turned backward on our route, and reached once more the 
old camp near the chasm ; but the band would not pitch 



04 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

their wigwams there, owing to their belief that it was a 
fatal spot, and was haunted by the spirit of the brave. Be- 
ing anxious to see again the place that had so deeply im- 
pressed itself on my memory, I descended the chasm and 
visited the grave ; but, on reaching it, I was horror-stricken 
to find that the wolves had scraped up the body and eaten 
it. I saw that the remains of the mustang killed by the 
grizzly had also been devoured by the same hungry creat- 
ures, and could then readily understand why some of them 
are one mass of sores in some portions of the West. The 
sightless, fleshless skull of the brave, with its long, lank 
hair, was so displeasing a sight to me that I was glad to 
beat a retreat, and get out of the savage chasm to the gen- 
tle glade and generous forest above. When I reached camp 
I did not mention a word of what I had seen to anybody, 
but on arriving at our destination I told it to the chief; 
but he manifested no feeling whatsoever in the matter, and 
did not even make a comment, although I was very careful 
not to use the name of the brave, knowing how scrupulous 
they are about referring to the dead. 

A comrade and myself killed a grizzly one day in Wyo- 
ming by running it down on horseback, but not until after 
we had planted its body with bullets. While riding to- 
ward a frontier post we espied the bear pottering about a 
few cotton-woods that grew on the bank of a small stream. 
On seeing it, we dashed forward, firing; and both found, 
when we got to within seventy or eighty yards of it, that 
our bullets evidently went wide of the mark, for, instead of 
attempting to run away, it raised itself on its hind-legs, as 
if it were willing to face all foes in a sparring or wrestling 
match. The attitude was so gravely ludicrous that I was 
forced to laugh at it; but my companion, who could see 
nothing funny in it, thought he could see a good chance 
for a shot, and he availed himself of it by sending a bullet 
somewhere into its body. This seemed to impress upon it 
the idea that mere attitude was nothing, and that its visit- 
ors were not pleasant creatures to know ; so it concluded 
that discretion was the better part of valor, and, acting on 



THE GRIZZLY BEAU. 65 

this idea, it moved toward the open ground at a rate of 
speed that surprised me. We started in pursuit, and kept 
delivering our fire at its back and head, being afraid to 
range ourselves on its sides for fear we might shoot each 
other. Finding this mode ineffective, we concluded to rush 
past it, one at a time, and shoot at it with our heavy re- 
volvers, then wheel back and give a return fire. I moved 
first, through the courtesy of my companion, and delivered, 
two shots in rapid succession at its sides, hoping to crip- 
ple it, and wheeling back on the opposite side, after run- 
ning about a hundred yards ahead of it, got in two more. 
These forced it to halt and growl terribly, as if in pain. 
My companion did exactly as I had done, and we repeated 
the movement until we had emptied our revolvers. The 
animal had staggered three or four times, charged twice, 
and fallen once, while tins fusillade was taking place, and 
finally halted, one of its shoulders having been broken. 
This was the opportunity we wanted ; so, taking deliber- 
ate aim at its head with our rifles, we fired, and it fell 
dead in its tracks. An examination proved that it had 
eight bullets in it, one of which was in the heart, one in 
the fore-shoulder, two in the skull, and the remainder scat- 
tered over the body. Those in the brain were what had 
slain it, for one of them entered the occipital region and 
broke the bone. We found it to be a full-grown male, but 
it was very thin. My companion skinned it rapidly, and 
kindly gave me the hide ; but, notwithstanding all my 
pains with it, some red man is now probably using it, as 
it was captured, with other cherished articles, by the In- 
dians during one of their raids on a wagon-train. 

While accompanying a party of Indian scouts in the 
Government service, on another occasion, I had a most un- 
heroic contest with a grizzly, and one which might be left 
untold but for the fact that it proves the affection of the 
female for her cubs. After a hard day's march, the camp 
was pitched in a pine forest on a high hill, and, when sup- 
per was over and the horses were picketed, all retired to 
rest except one vedette and a horse -guard of two men. 



G6 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

As we were thoroughly tired, we slept so soundly that no 
noise could be heard, for even the drowsy sentinels who 
relieved each other were too fatigued to indulge in talk. 
Suddenly, about midnight, several rifle reports were heard 
, in rapid succession ; and thinking this an attack by the 
red foes of whom the expedition was in search, we rolled 
out of our blankets, seized our arms, and prepared for a 
contest of life and death, for we did not care to lose our 
scalps without making the enemy pay dearly for them. 
After the first alarm was over, inquiries were made as to 
the cause of the firing, and we learned from the guard 
over the horses that a grizzly had been prowling about 
the camp, and they were afraid that it would attack them- 
selves or the animals under their charge, unless they shot 
at it and drove it away. After receiving a severe repri- 
mand for raising a needless alarm, and firing without con- 
sulting their superior officer, the encampment was once 
more in sound repose. On awaking the next morning, we 
concluded to go in search of the disturber of our sleep, 
and to secure its hide as a forfeit for its daring. An 
examination of the ground was first made, and that re- 
vealed the tracks of a female and her two cubs ; and this 
caused us to feel somewhat elated, as we hoped to have 
some stirring amusement. Selecting eight men for the 
hunt, and leaving the remainder in camp, much to their 
disgust, we followed the trail until it was lost in the dense 
shrubbery. This forced us to spread out, and each com- 
menced a search for himself. I was on the extreme left 
of the party, and my course led me along the banks of a 
deep canyon and through heavy timber. While standing 
listlessly near a large crag, and almost despairing of meet- 
ing any bears, I saw a cub about six months old groping 
about on the outer margin of some undergrowth. Think- 
ing that it was alone, I fired at it, and hit it, I fancy, in 
the abdomen, from the jump it gave; and, before it could 
move off, I delivered a second shot as it wheeled around, 
and tumbled it over. Presuming that I had mortally 
wounded it, although it was growling and groaning fear- 



THE GRIZZLY BEAU. 67 

fully, I advanced at a run to finish it; but I had not gone 
twenty yards before I saw the dam sniffing around it and 
caressing it. She evidently thought something had in- 
jured it, for, on lifting her head, she gazed about as if in 
search of a foe. Seeing me standing in plain sight — for 
I halted on seeing her — she charged me promptly and 
fiercely. I fired at her once, but I suppose I missed her; 
and not having time to reload, I broke for the shelter of 
the chasm. Dashing, or rather tumbling, down its side at 
a headlong pace, I was soon at the bottom and clambering 
up the opposite side; and on reaching the crest I looked 
around for my pursuer, but she was not visible. The fir- 
ing brought some of the party to my aid in a few minutes, 
and, thus re-enforced, I went in search of the cub ; but, 
on reaching the place where it lay, we found only a large 
pool of blood, and a zigzag trail of the same material which 
led into the heaviest part of the undergrowth. 

Knowing that the dam was exceedingly fierce at the 
treatment of her offspring, and not caring to meet her in 
the dense shrubbery, it was deemed the wisest plan not to 
pursue her ; for we did not want to have any dead or 
wounded men to dispose of, and we were anxious to re- 
sume the march in order to get some tidings of the red 
foe who was then on the war-path, and whose movements 
we were employed to watch. I learned on that occasion 
from an Indian hunter that the female, when she is accom- 
panied by her cubs, is much more dangerous than the 
male, even in the rutting season, and that she will boldly 
face anything living that may approach or threaten her 
darlings. As an instance of this, he related the case of a 
friend of his who captured a cub about two months old, 
and was hastening homeward with it, when he was sud- 
denly arrested by hearing some animal tearing through the 
bushes behind him. Looking around, he saw a female 
grizzly bounding toward him at her best pace, her eyes all 
aflame with rage, and her mouth frothing. Knowing that 
he could not escape her if he stuck to his prize, he threw 
it on the ground and fled ; but the mother did not stop in 



68 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

her course on account of meeting her cub, and pursued 
him until he disappeared from her sight in a precipice. 
Feeling safe there, the red man halted to ease his breath- 
ing, and he could then hear the loud yet gruff calls of the 
mother to her cub. lie felt so thankful for his hair- 
breadth escape then that he never tried cub-stealing again, 
for, in his opinion, an enraged grizzly mother is as bad and 
fierce as the spirits of evil. 

One of the pleasantest chases after grizzlies that I ever 
enjoyed came off in Southern California. The party, my- 
self excepted, was composed of Greasers, or native Califor- 
nians, and two Mexican Spaniards. As the hunt was or- 
ganized for the special purpose of driving the bears out 
of a section of country where they were committing sad 
havoc among sheep, we selected the best and most expe- 
rienced mustangs to be found in a large area, and, arming 
ourselves with rifles and revolvers, we started for the foot- 
hills from our rendezvous at 5 p.m., and encamped that 
night under the shade of some oak-trees, having built a 
rousing fire to keep away all quadrupedal intruders. Af- 
ter supper we devoted ourselves assiduously up to mid- 
night to puffing cigarettes, singing songs, and relating 
hunting experiences. The last "story" was told by a 
swarthy old veteran, and according to that he had killed a 
bear single-handed with only a hunting- knife, by simply 
evading a blow of its paw, and then cutting its jugular 
vein before it could meet his attack. Having slept sound- 
ly, we awoke promptly at 4 a.m., and, after partaking of a 
light breakfast, we loaded our rifles and revolvers, and sad- 
dled our steeds, and were in motion in less than an hour. 

Deploying in skirmishing order, and in the form of a 
crescent, we advanced toward a coppice of oaks half a mile 
in front, which grizzlies were known to frequent. We were 
accompanied by a dozen mongrel dogs of many breeds, and 
they were taken by one of the party to the top of a hill, so 
that they might drive the quarry toward us. He took the 
precaution to keep to the leeward of the copse, for if even 
the daring grizzly caught the odor of humanity, it would 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 69 

sometimes think it the better part of valor to beat a vapid 
retreat. The captain of the skirmish-line gave us orders 
how to move by the wave of his hand, and all obeyed most 
promptly. On reaching the wood, we held the reins tight- 
er, grasped the saddle closer with our legs, and placed the 
barrel of the rifle in the crook of the left arm. This was 
no sooner done than the dogs gave tongue; the chorus be- 
came loud, then broken and general, and in a few minutes 
after a splendid male grizzly emerged from the bushes, 
about one hundred yards distant. When he saw the circle 
around him he hesitated a moment; but the noise of the 
dogs soon decided his movements, and he made for the 
opening in front. Bang went a rifle, followed in a second 
by another. My horse, which had been restless, now 
showed undoubted terror ; he wheeled, and was making 
for the rear at his best pace ; but when I got the reins out 
of my mouth and into my hands, I gave the Spanish bit a 
touch that nearly threw him on his haunches, and, wheeling 
him, I made for my place in the crescent. I found my 
mustang was not alone in his fright, for I saw two more 
making their best strides for home. When I reached my 
position, Bruin was making for that direction, as it was the 
only opening left. I fired at him twice in rapid succes- 
sion ; but at this moment my mustang became alarmed 
again at the object approaching, and wheeled to the rear. 
He had not gone far ere I checked him ; caused him to 
make a demi-volt, and got another shot. Bullets were 
whizzing thickly around his bearship at this time, and he 
did not go five yards farther ere he fell, groaning, to the 
ground, and bleeding profusely. Two revolver -shots in 
the head finished him, and our prize lay outstretched be- 
fore us in all his inanimate majesty. Who killed him ? 
Every one was willing to bet or swear that he had hit him, 
yet, on examining the body, only three bullets were found, 
though fifty must have been fired. The whole time occu- 
pied by this contest did not exceed ten minutes, yet it 
would seem as though a small army was firing, so rapidly 
were the leadeu missiles poured forth. 



70 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

After the death the assembly was sounded by a loud 
halloo, and the runaways returned, swearing, as only Span- 
iards can, at their ill-luck and their cowardly steeds. Hav- 
ing dragged the bear into some bushes, we reformed our 
line, and moved in an oblique direction to the right, where 
the manzanita grew thickly. The dogs had scarcely enter- 
ed the shrubbery ere a simultaneous yelp made us all halt, 
and in a few moments a female broke cover; but seeing 
the number of enemies surrounding her, she re-entered the 
bushes and made for a ravine on the right. Her course 
was marked by the swaying of the shrubbery, so to the 
right we all started at the best speed of our horses, intend- 
ing to head her off. We had scarcely proceeded half a 
mile ere we struck a canyon, and into this we had the 
chagrin of seeing our game hurl herself, for she apparently 
went to the bottom at one stride. That she was not in- 
jured, however, was proved by the yelping of the dogs, 
which pursued her for over a mile; but I may add that 
they took very good care not to go too near her. 

As we could not do much in the heat of the day, we con- 
cluded to return to camp and await the morrow for the re- 
sumption of our sport. During the evening, while lying 
around the fire, everybody was telling just how he missed 
or hit the bear ; but who hit him is to this day a mystery, 
for the greater number insisted that their bullets struck 
just where the holes were found. Whoever reached the 
vicinity of the heart, however, was the champion. The 
action of our veteran mustangs was accounted for on the 
ground that Bruin emerged too suddenly, so did not give 
them time to think. This may have been the cause, but to 
me it looked like want of courage and experience. Our 
camp was the scene of hilarity that evening, and the song, 
"Hermosa esta la noche" was sung many times over, and 
with immense gusto, as all were pleased with the success 
achieved. 

We started out the next morning at six o'clock, and work- 
ed up a piece of woods half a mile from the coppice of the 
previous day, but it proved a blank draw. While we were 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 71 

passing from this to another promising country, we espied 
a grizzly and her two cubs playing together in a dell in the 
most affectionate manner ; and as we felt sure that they 
could not escape, we watched their ludicrous and clumsy 
antics for some moments with keen interest. When weary 
of that, the dogs and a huntsman were sent to the wind- 
ward in order to drive the animals to the leeward, where 
we posted ourselves. As soon as the hounds came in sight 
of the bears they set up a tremendous yelping, and charged 
them boldly ; but they reckoned without their host, for the 
entire party stood boldly at bay, and did not make even an 
effort to avoid their canine foes; and when the dogs came 
to close quarters the cubs drew near their dam, and all 
raised themselves on their hind-legs, as if they were willing 
and ready for the contest. 

The dogs tried to get a nip at them, but their effort was 
in vain, for their ungainly opponents met them in every di- 
rection, and frequently charged them in return ; but their 
canine caution and nimbleness enabled them to escape all 
blows and attempts at a hug. The old grizzly finally be- 
came so angry at their pertinacious annoyance that she 
rushed suddenly at one that approached very close, and, 
giving him a sweeping blow with her paw, killed him as 
easily as she would a mouse by crushing his skull. While 
she was engaged in this affair, half a dozen of the dogs sur- 
rounded the cubs and gave them several severe nips, which 
caused them to howl fearfully, and their cries brought the 
dam back in a hurry to aid them; but before she could 
come up, one of the youngsters had killed another of its 
opponents by breaking his spinal column with a blow, and 
then biting it through and through. As the entire pack 
was threatened with destruction if the contest continued, 
we advanced at a gallop to the scene, and calling the dogs 
away, though not without much trouble, we opened fire on 
the old one only, as we wished to lasso the youngstei's. 
When the latter saw the numerous enemies surrounding 
them they tried to escape into a copse close by, and the 
mother attempted to follow them ; but two or three bullets 



72 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

in her body caused her to stop and face about to deliver 
battle to her foes. Her eyes fairly gleamed with fury on 
seeing the men and horses galloping about her ; and when- 
ever a cavalier came any way near her she charged him 
boldly, but only to receive a shot from him or some other 
person near by. Bullets rained around her from rifle and 
revolver; but they seemed to have no other effect on her 
than to rouse her into fury and cause her to charge when- 
ever she had the chance. 

A man named Diego Gonzales, becoming incensed at the 
inemcacy of the fire, or her magical vitality, rode close up 
to her, as his mustang was well trained, and delivered his 
fire within ten yards of her face ; but he had scarcely dis- 
charged his rifle before she bounded toward him ; and be- 
fore he could wheel and get away, she had thrown horse 
and rider to the ground by one desperate blow. The fall- 
en man drew his revolver, so as to sell his life as dearly 
as possible; but before he could use it half a dozen men 
jumped off their terrified mustangs and ran toward her, 
and, opening fire on the huge beast, they killed her ere 
she could transfer her attentions from the steed to the 
rider. When these were examined, we found that the 
horse was so severely injured that he could not live, while 
the rider escaped with only a severe contusion of the un- 
der side and leg, and the crushing of the ankle-bone. To 
rid the poor horse of his misery, as his neck and face were 
horribly cut, he was shot, and Gonzales was taken on a 
rude litter to camp by four men. The remainder of the 
party started out after the cubs, and, with the aid of the 
dogs, we soon found them concealed in a dense growth of 
manzanita. The party separated on finding them, in order 
that each might capture one, but, at my request, it was 
decided not to shoot them there, but to drive them out. 
and capture them alive if possible. When the proposition 
was agreed to, four of us went after one, and the rest after 
the other. Driving our cub into open ground, the lariats 
were soon whirling about its head, and in less than five 
minutes we had it bound legs and head, so that it could 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 



73 



not move either. The other party being equally success- 
ful, we placed all our trophies in three wagons and return- 
ed to our rendezvous, at the house of Gonzales, as he was 







; 



- ' 






too much injured to be able to indulge in any hunts just 
then, and all wished to show him how much he was re- 
spected. I left the neighborhood a few days afterward, 

4 



74 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

but I learned from a correspondent that over twenty griz- 
zlies were killed in that section during the season, though 
the greater number were poisoned. 

A final word might be said about the position of the 
grizzly in the animal world. Naturalists have called the 
lion the " king of beasts," but they evidently knew little 
of the grizzly at the time they made this decision. If 
strength and courage are considered as recommendations 
to royalty in the quadrupedal world, then I think the griz- 
zly ranks above the lion. I have not seen the former per- 
form the feats said to be accomplished by the latter, of 
trotting away with a heifer in its mouth, as it does not 
generally carry its prey in that manner, as the felidce do ; 
but I have known it to kill an elk weighing five or six 
hundred pounds, and, in devouring it, to turn it over with 
the greatest ease. It, so far as my experience and infor- 
mation go, drags its prey along the ground if heavy, but 
if light it has been known to carry it between its forelegs. 
In magnanimity of character, if carnivorous animals can 
possess such a trait, it is equal to the so-called " king of 
beasts," for it has been known to wound a buffalo severely, 
then let the poor creature escape. That it has killed two 
and three buffaloes at a time with strokes of its huge 
paws is a well-authenticated fact ; and it has been, to reit- 
erate, known to drag a heavy bull, that must have weighed 
from twelve to eighteen hundred pounds, a long distance. 
I doubt if a lion can do this, and I am rather inclined to 
think that in a contest between both animals the grizzly 
would prove the victor. Sportsmen, unless provided with 
heavy rifles, would therefore do well to beware of it; for 
there is not a year, I suppose, that some men are not killed 
by it, owing principally to their own foolhardiness in at- 
tacking it with light weapons, or without the aid of com- 
panions. 



THE BLACK BEAR. ?5 



CHAPTER III. 

THE BLACK BEAR. 

The Black Bear. — Different Varieties. — Their Haunts, Habits, and Gen- 
eral Characteristics. — Affection of Mothers for their Cubs. — Gravid 
Females never seen. — Migrations of the Bear.— Character of its Flesh. 
— Its Game Qualities. — Abundance of the Animal in the West. — The 
best Dogs for chasing it. — How to Hunt it. — Its Acuteness of Nose 
and Expertness in Swimming. — Captured by Steamers frequently in 
Puget Sound. — Why it is not Hunted much. — A Hunt with Indians. — 
The Scenes and Incidents of a Fotlatch. — Capture of several Bears. 
— Tripped up while Stalking a Male. — Explosion of Gun. — A Rude 
Raft, a Wild Ride, and a Collision with a Barricade. — A bad Ducking. 
— I kill a Bear, and receive a bad Wound in the Arm. — A Canoe Trip, 
and a Hard Bump. — Reach Camp, and have my Wound dressed. — Re- 
turn of the Hunters. — An Indian Festival. — How Indians cook Young 
Bears. — I am mistaken for a Bear by Hunters, and shot at. — Anecdotes 
of Men attacked by Bears. — A Bear -hunt which results in being 
Treed. — The Release, and Death of the Besieger. — How a Doctor cap- 
tured a Bear. — Water versus Courage. — A Public Singer and an Imagi- 
nary Bear. — The Remuneration given for keeping his Adventure silent. 

The black bear {Ursus americanus) is found all over 
the United States, but it is more abundant in the wooded 
regions beyond the Rocky Mountains than in any other 
part of the world ; so he who would revel in bear-hunts 
to his heart's content should seek that country, and spend 
a season amidst its extensive forests and towering moun- 
tain ranges. There are supposed to be two or three spe- 
cies of this animal in the West, but, so far as I could learn, 
they are all one, the only difference between them being 
confined to variety of hue; and this is undoubtedly the 
result of climate and habitat. 

I have seen on more than one occasion dams accompa- 
nied by cubs which displayed distinct colors ; some be- 
ing black, others brown, or a dark cinnamon, and even a 



76 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

piebald color is not uncommon in some sections of the 
country. 

The cinnamon bear is thought by many persons to be 
larger and fiercer than the black ; but such is not my ex- 
perience, for the largest one of the former that I saw killed 
did not exceed five hundred pounds in weight, and I knew 
several of the black variety found in Alaska to turn the 
scales at six hundred pounds. Some hunters in the Rocky 
Mountain region call the grizzly the cinnamon bear when 
its pelage becomes somewhat light in hue at certain sea- 
sons; but it is not generally called so, as it is an easy 




BLACK BEAR. 



matter to distinguish between both species. The com- 
mon cinnamon variety is not, in my opinion, any more in- 
clined to be fierce than the black, and I have yet to see 
the first man who has been attacked by it without provo- 
cation. A further proof of the three varieties being one 
species may be deduced from the fact that their claws are 
of the same form and length, that their fur is of the same 
texture and length under the same circumstances, and that 
the flesh of one tastes exactly like that of the other, all 
things being equal. I have been explicit in making these 
statements, because some writers, and even some experi- 



THE BLACK BEAU. 77 

enced hunters, have assumed that the cinnamon is a mod- 
ified grizzly, and is equally as dangerous, and as ready 
to fight without cause. My experience of it is, however, 
that it has the same habits as its black congener; that 
it is no more dangerous ; and that it will flee from the 
presence of man unless it is wounded, very hungry, or 
laboring under the excitement of the rutting season; and 
even then a lusty shout is liable to scatter a regiment of 
its tribe. 

The American bear has forty -two teeth, and I have 
heard or read that it has one tooth more than the Euro- 
pean species. It is naturally sluggish in character, and 
keeps to the densest parts of the woods, where the shrub- 
bery is most profuse. Its usual haunts are caverns or hol- 
low trees, and in these retreats it passes "away a large por- 
tion of its time in dozing and sleeping. It is ever on the 
alert for foes, however, and unless the hunter approaches its 
lair from the leeward, he is liable to be detected by the ap- 
parent sluggard. It is omnivorous in taste; and it seems 
to matter little to it whether it eats ants, grubs, eggs, 
berries, roots, grapes and fruit generally, or mice, moles, 
squirrels, and other small animals. Its presence may be 
readily detected in the woods during the summer by the 
large number of berries stripped off the bushes, and the 
torn condition of the soil where it has been digging for 
roots. In the Far North-west it frequents thickets where 
a species of buckthorn (Frangula purshiana) grows, and 
devours its fruit with great gusto, though to man it proves 
a violent cathartic. I have seldom known a bear to attack 
other animals of large size unless provoked to do so by 
hunger, and, when that was appeased, it relapsed into its 
usual harmless condition. This quiet disposition is readi- 
ly accounted for by its dental formation ; for that proves 
at once that nature intended it to live principally on fruits, 
vegetables, and roots. Its greatest weakness of appetite 
seems to be a fondness for honey, and, to obtain that, it 
will face the attacks of all the bees on earth, even if they 
should cause its muzzle to swell to the size of a small bal- 



78 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

loon. Having a very sweet tooth, it is also attached to 
sugar, and I have seen two of them fight in the most vi- 
cious manner for a lump so small that an ant would almost 
scorn to notice it. I used, at one time, to enjoy keenly 
sending a brace of cubs racing up a tree for a piece of 
sugar or honey ; and when they reached the spot in which 
it was concealed, they would commence growling, moan- 
ing, and quarrelling if they did not secure it at once. 
Whichever got it first ran away with it; but the other re- 
sented such selfishness, and attacked its companion ener- 
getically for displaying such a low trait. If they were not 
fighting about sugar, they were sure to be about something 
else, especially if it was anything edible. To give one 
food and overlook the other would cause the neglected one 
to indulge in moaning growls of rage and envy. The op- 
posite sexes quarrel as readily as the males during feeding- 
time, for gallantry seems to be an attribute foreign to a 
bear's nature. Whatever affection the animal may possess 
belongs entirely to the female, for she is kind to her young, 
and will sometimes fight bravely in their defence, or sin- 
cerely mourn their loss should the hunter kill them. The 
only time when she is really dangerous is when she is ac- 
companied by her cubs ; for she will then fight if sur- 
prised suddenly, cornered, or wounded, or if she thinks any 
harm is intended toward them. 

The female brings forth her young late in December 
or early in January, the period of gestation commencing 
in October, and lasting generally about one hundred and 
twelve days. When in this condition she retires to a tree- 
top or a cavern, and there remains until the cubs are able 
to move about briskly enough to flee to her if attacked by 
wolves or other foes. So carefully do the mothers secrete 
themselves at a certain season that I never heard of a preg- 
nant one being killed, nor did I ever see one, to the best 
of my knowledge. During unusually cold seasons in the 
north the bears migrate to the south, where food and 
warmth may be procured ; but in these migrations even, 
when many are shot, no person could say that a gravid 



THE BLACK BEAR. 79 

animal was seen, though females were frequently found 
among the throngs. 

The animal cannot be attacked at close range with impu- 
nity during these excursions, for hunger and cold make it 
rather desperate. As its fur is valuable, however, profes- 
sional hunters slay it at every opportunity, and sometimes 
follow groups for two or three days together. Its flesh, 
which is succulent and fat from June to the period of hi- 
bernation, becomes lean and dry during the migration, so 
that it is not much sought for as an accessory to the lard- 
er. Should its winter rest even be undisturbed, the flesh is 
leathery and disagreeable when it reappears in the spring, 
and continues in that condition until the wild roots and 
fruits are ripe, when it fattens up in a short time. 

During its hibernation the bear is said to suck its fore- 
paws so much that they are very tender when it arouses 
itself from its torpor; and it is even said by some tele- 
scope-sighted hunters to close the anus with clay, to pre- 
vent the passage of any element of nutrition that could 
support existence while in its dormant state. 

As a game animal, when in good condition, the bear may 
be classed with the fox or badger; for while it is harder to 
kill and more difficult to find, it is equally as harmless to 
man if he will not throw himself into its embraces, and 
assume that he can whip his weight in wild-cats. While 
it is a dangerous opponent at close quarters, owing to its 
weight, size, and strength, the sharpness of its teeth and 
claws, and its hugging propensity, yet its power may be 
overcome by seizing it by the throat near the root of the 
tongue, and pressing the fingers heavily on it; and this 
soon produces spasms of the glottis, which suffocate it in a 
short time. 

Bears are interesting and playful creatures about a house 
until they are a year old, but after that time they are trou- 
blesome, and liable to get into mischief on every occasion. 
They are so numerous in certain sections beyond the Rocky 
Mountains that several of them form accessories of towns 
and cities, and even of farm-houses; and in all cases they 



80 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

seem to be pampered pets. I have seen as many as eight 
tied around a house in Oregon, and live near another house 
in Washington Territory; and I knew a half-hunter and 
half-stock-raiser in Wyoming to have seventeen cubs in 
his stable at a time. He kept them for sale, however, and 
those that he did not dispose of were killed for their hides 
and flesh. He informed me that he could catch as many 
cubs as he wanted in February and March, by killing the 
dam, but that they were not worth the time and trouble 
devoted to their capture. 

To kill a bear in the Atlantic States is considered quite a 
feat; to kill twenty of them is not considered much by any 
experienced Nimrod west of the Rocky Mountains. The 
reason for this discrepancy in the feelings of the chase is, 
that while the animal is very scarce in one division of the 
country, it is very abundant in the other. Even in por- 
tions of the Southern States, where it is still common, a 
bear- hunt is a gala event, and armed and mounted men 
and numerous dogs take part in it, much the same as they 
would in a wolf-drive in Russia or a boar-hunt in the Ar- 
dennes. I have hunted it in the Far West, not because I 
wished to do so specially, but because it came in my way 
when in search of other game, and I thought it better than 
nothing. I have on a few occasions formed one of a party 
organized specially for a chase after it ; but I soon learned 
that we could not find it sometimes when we most wanted 
it, and that, when found, it offered little or no sport unless 
it was shot when running, or while trying to fight its way 
through a pack of dogs. 

To hunt it successfully, a person should be accompanied 
by dogs trained specially to pursue it. These ought not 
to be large, fierce creatures, that would attack it boldly 
and fight until it resulted in the death of either; they 
should, on the contrary, be lithe, active, and high-tempered, 
and pugnacious enough to nip at it whenever they get the 
opportunity, and discreet enough to avoid a blow or a hug. 
Large, rough - coated terriers make capital bear - dogs, as 
they have endurance, mettle, a keen nose, and sufficient 



THE BLACK BEAR. 81 

combativeness to assail any animal that runs on four legs; 
and of these I do not know any better breed than that pe- 
culiar to Ireland. Any dogs having a good nose, speed, 
and activity would do, however, if trained to the business, 
as they can detect Bruin's strong odor from amidst that of 
any of the Ferae, naturae, and follow it with little trouble, 
and often with the keenest interest. 

The bear, when cornered by dogs, generally seeks safety 
in a tree, if it is any way near ; and there it remains in 
false security until the hunter arrives on the scene and 
brings it down with a bullet planted in its heart or brain. 

Experienced dogs keep away from the foot of the tree 
when their master opens fire on " Cuffey ;" and when that 
individual tumbles to the ground they take excellent care 
not to go too close, for fear of receiving a blow that would 
soon end their earthly career. They should, however, be 
prepared to attack it in the legs and flanks whenever it 
attempts to escape, else it may pi - ove indifferent to their 
barking, and attack the hunter with a fierceness by no 
means agreeable. 

The Indian dogs make good lymers, and few bears es- 
cape them before being treed, so that a person is almost 
confident of bagging one, at least, while in their company, 
if any are aroused. A fifty-calibre Express-rifle is a capital 
weapon for hunting this animal; but in the woods I prefer 
a breech-loader carrying a heavy charge of buckshot, as 
some of that is almost sure of reaching its destination, 
whereas the bullet is liable to be swerved from its course 
by the undergrowth. 

Bears, when they are special objects of the chase, should 
be stalked or hunted up wind, for "Cuffey" — the familiar 
name for the black bear, as " Old Ephraim " is for the 
grizzly — is keen of nose and ear, and will be out of the 
reach of its human enemy long before the latter knows 
that it is about. To show how sensitive it is in the nose, 
I may mention an incident that occurred to me in Wash- 
ington Territory. Coming into Seattle one day from 
Washington Lake, I rested for a short time in the woods, 

4* 



82 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

using a fallen tree for a seat. While deeply engaged in a 
brown-study something startled me, and, on looking up, I 
saw a bear and two cubs a short distance away picking 
berries and searching old logs for grubs and the nests of 
ants. As I wished to study them, I moved quietly to one 
side and secured a perch to the leeward in a vine-maple 
tree. While seated there, I had a good opportunity of 
watching them ; and so amused was I with their affection- 
ate demeanor and joyous gambols, that I took no notice of 
the direction in which they were moving. In the course 
of perhaps half an hour they jumped on the log on which 
I had been lounging, but they had scarcely done so before 
they were off again and hastening into the forest at their 
best pace, as if they were thoroughly frightened. They 
must have got the odor left by my hand on the wood, or 
they would not have left such a good grub and ant ground 
as the log without searching it well, and feasting on its 
dainties. I have found that farmers, wdien setting traps, 
for bears, could not get one to approach them until after 
the wind and sun, or dew and rain, had taken away the 
smell which the hands had left upon them. 

Being cautious and vigilant, and "knowing," in the sense 
of cunning, the bear is no stupid, to be slain without some 
exercise of the perceptive qualities, unless it is taken at a 
great disadvantage. I have known it to be captured in 
Western rivers by steamboats and canoes ; and one of the 
pleasantest runs that I ever had after it was in a canoe, on 
the Ghehalis River, in Washington Territory. It is even 
found swimming Puget Sound, which is an inland sea; 
and it is no uncommon occurrence to see it using the cur- 
rents of streams in its autumn migrations from the high 
cold mountains to the sheltered forests and warm climate 
of the coast. It takes boldly to the water when necessary, 
and seems to think little of swimming several miles, and at 
a good pace too. It is no rare occurrence for a steamboat 
to capture one while it is swimming Puget Sound, and I 
heard of a boat that ran down two in one day in the Sno- 
homish River, a stream emptying into Possession Sound. 



THE BLACK BEAR. 83 

The animal is so common everywhere in the dense forests 
of the North-west that it seems somewhat odd that large 
numbers are not killed annually for their flesh alone ; for a 
bear steak, though by no means the tenderest of meat, is 
still palatable to the most dainty of appetites. One reason 
for their immunity from attack is due to the fact that they 
do not trouble the farm-yard much, and that their hide 
does not bring much of a price in the West, though it is 
costly enough in the retail market. They commit a raid 
occasionally, however, on the farm-yai'd, but it consists 
principally in stealing a young pig or a lamb, or upsetting 
an apiary ; but in the majority of cases they pay dearly for 
such temerity, for no effort, from poison to rifle, is spared 
to get rid of them. 

The Indians formerly hunted them for their skins, which 
were sold to the fur companies ; but since the great com- 
panies have left the country, little attention has been paid 
to this business south of British America. The red men 
kill them occasionally now for their flesh and hide, and for 
their claws, which are highly prized for necklaces. 

A friend and myself, while wandering through Washing- 
ton Territory, found ourselves one day among a tribe of 
Indians on the Skagit River; and as they were preparing 
for a grand potlatch, or distribution of gifts to their friends 
in other tribes, we concluded to wait and see the ceremony. 
Not caring to share the cabin or wigwam of any of the 
sons of the forest, through fear of making the acquaintance 
of the numerous crawling creatures that live in them with 
the owners, Ave pitched our camp under the shelter of a 
spreading spruce near the middle of the encampment, and 
made ourselves as comfortable as circumstances would per- 
mit. Being guests, in an informal way, of the chief, we 
left all our ictas in camp, except our rifles, revolvers, and 
knives, and roamed around among the different huts or 
mat wigwams, paying visits of curiosity and ceremony, as 
we wished to ingratiate ourselves with the people. 

We were received with the usual stoicism of the Indian 
nature; and were it not for our efforts to pronounce their 



84 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

terribly guttural dialect, which caused them to laugh heart- 
ily, it is doubtful if we could have induced them to look 
kindly upon us under the circumstances, as they do not 
care to have white men see their meetings, or potlatches, 
for fear they might ridicule them. We managed, however, 
to make ourselves at home with them; and our intrusion 
was not, after awhile, considered to be very disagreeable. 
The day after our arrival the neighboring tribes began to 
pour in — men, women, and children; some coming on 
horseback, some afoot, but the greater number arrived in 
canoes, which held from four to a dozen persons. When 
all were assembled they were welcomed by the chief, and 
the ceremony of distribution commenced late in the after- 
noon. The highest dignitaries among the visitors received 
presents in accordance with their dignity ; some receiving 
a pair of blankets, and others old muskets, revolvers, cheap 
knives, pieces of cloth, deer-skins, bear-skins, strings of col- 
ored glass beads, copper bracelets, and ear-rings, and so on, 
until all the presents were exhausted. 

No person w T as forgotten, from the highest to the lowest, 
and the result was that all were as happy as children. Not 
a little merriment and good-natured rivalry was manifest- 
ed when a miscellaneous collection of articles was thrown 
among a throng of men, women, and children, for they 
commenced struggling for them as ravenously as a body 
of boys for pennies. This ceremony lasted for four days; 
and to make it as interesting as possible, the evenings, up 
to midnight, were devoted to speech-making, gossiping, and 
feasting and dancing, in which all, except the very aged, 
joined with an alacrity and light -heartedness one would 
not expect from a people so taciturn and uniinpressible. 

The camp presented a very picturesque appearance dur- 
ing the night ; for the fires, which blazed in every direc- 
tion, were surrounded by shadowy human groups who were 
enjoying themselves with song and story, or the gross 
feast, while numbers of men could be seen in various direc- 
tions jumping around in a circle and grunting like pigs. 
This they called dancing, and they apparently enjoyed it. 



THE BLACK BEAU. 



85 



The last dance on the programme for the night was in 
honor of the animal kingdom ; and this my friend con- 
cluded to join, as he thought the previous Terpsichorean 
evolutions rather ridiculous, and therefore funny, and he 
could not see any fun going on without wishing to take a 
part in it. When the circle was formed he took his place 
in it, thoroughly resolved to grunt and jump as well as any 




ENDIAN DANOE. 



of his red companions. While waiting for the signal to 
start, two men wrapped up in bear-skins rushed into the 
middle of the circle from a tepee close by, and, giving an 
unearthly yell, commenced jumping, first to the right, then 
to the left, keeping time to their heavy stamping by deep 
abdominal grunts. Those around them went through the 
same movements, and I noticed that my friend acted his 
part as well as if he had been to the manner born. The 



86 SrORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

two inside imitated the actions of the animal they were 
supposed to represent very well, in some cases ; and when- 
ever they pretended to break through the circle, those 
forming it played the part of dogs and hunters and beat 
them back. After indulging in- this hard work for half an 
hour, all the Terpsichoreans bounded into the air sudden- 
ly, and gave a long, loud, and prolonged yell that was so 
blood-curdling and terrifying that my friend broke away 
at once, being actually startled out of his wits by its in- 
tensity and fierceness. The suddenness of his retreat and 
his blanched countenance caused me to laugh heartily; but 
when I learned that he knew too well what an Indian war- 
whoop was in reality, and had cause to remember it, my 
sense of ridicule was turned into sympathy, and I stopped 
teasing him. 

This dance was followed by others in honor of the wolf, 
deer, elk, and other quadrupeds ; but all were alike in char- 
acter, except that the Terpsichoreans inside the circle wore 
the skin of the animal they represented, and sometimes im- 
itated its voice and action. The pale-faced dancer could 
not be induced to take any further part in the ceremony, 
however, and the fun which he saw in it at first had all 
vanished. 

We were awake the next morning at an early hour, and, 
seeing an unusual commotion in the encampment, asked 
what was going on, and were told that the 2 ) othiteh would 
close with a grand feast, and that some of the braves were 
going out hunting, while others were bound on a fishing 
expedition. We asked permission to join the Nimrods, 
and it was readily granted by the simple word "na-v>Uka n 
— yes — for the red men are sparing of words, except when 
they are extolling their own deeds. 

The hunting-party, attired in all sorts of garments, from 
blankets and buckskins to the tattered remnants of a white 
man's clothes, or a simple shirt and a piece of cloth tied 
round the legs, looked more like scarecrows than anything 
else at a distance. Their head covering aided this appear- 
ance ; for while some were bareheaded, others wore old 



THE BLACK BEAR. 87 

felt-hats, skin caps, or the small painted baskets made of ce- 
dar roots or coarse grass, and three or four were decorated 
with " plug " hats that were shattered so much as to scarce- 
ly resemble the originals in texture or shape. They were 
accompanied by as motley a throng of dogs as ever was 
seen, even in an Indian village, some being large, powerful 
brutes, which showed indications of being descended from 
a more civilized stock than their kindred, while others were 
small, fox-like curs that looked as if they were degenerate 
coyotes. When everything was ready, we marched about 
seven or eight miles from camp in a body, and then sepa- 
rated, each man taking his own course. My companion 
and myself kept togethei - , and took a position in the centre 
of the line, in hopes that we should have a chance shot at 
anything that fled from the flanks. The dogs were set to 
work the moment we parted, but we listened in vain for 
their opening chorus, and this induced us to try still-hunt- 
ing, and to use our eyes instead of our ears. Moving on- 
ward cautiously through the dense and towering forest of 
firs, we often found it hard work to force our way through 
the matted undergrowth that grew in tropical luxuriance, 
or the masses of tall ferns, that towered above our heads 
in many places, and were so thick that we could not see 
five feet ahead of us. While groping through one of these 
forests of fern, a fine doe started up so close to us that I 
could almost have touched her with my gun, and before 
she could get away I planted a load of lead in her head. 
That was the first report heard during the morning ; and 
it had scarcely died away before two Indians were beside 
me, as if they had risen out of the bushes, and making 
inquiries about what had been killed. On seeing it, they 
seemed to be satisfied ; and taking out a knife, one of them 
cut it open, drew the viscera, and hung the carcass on a 
tree, which was " blazed," so that it could be readily iden- 
tified. We then resumed our march, and in the course of 
twenty minutes heard the yelping and howling of the dogs. 
"Itsoot" — beat' — said one of the Indians who remained 
with us, and, rushing through the shrubbery at a pace we 



88 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

could not show, he soon disappeared from our sight. We 
tried to follow, but gave up the attempt in a short time, 
and walked on leisurely, excusing ourselves for our appar- 
ent laziness by saying that we would not kill ourselves run- 
ning after a bear which we might not even see. We could 
hear the dogs yelping at intervals, first in one direction, 
then in another, and some distance away ; but they sud- 
denly began to approach us. This put us on our mettle ; 
so we hastened forward, and readied an open piece of 
woods in a few minutes. As soon as we entered this we 
saw the dogs nipping at, and yelping around, a large dark 
object that was alternately charging and wheeling, and at- 
tempting to retreat. Making a strong spurt, we were soon 
near the pack, just as four or five Indians appeared from 
opposite directions. The bear, seeing new foes, broke away, 
despite the efforts of the noisy curs, and sought refuge high 
up among the branches of a fir that must have had an alti- 
tude of two hundred feet. 

A shot or two caused it to lose its hold of the bough on 
which it was resting and to come tumbling to the ground, 
amidst a shower of branches, with a shock that killed it in 
a moment. The dogs became hilarious on seeing the death 
of the fugitive, and barked and jumped about. in a most 
enthusiastic manner; but even in death they feared it; for, 
after nipping at it, they would jump away growling and 
grinning, as if they were being pursued. The quarry proved 
to be a female nearly full grown, and, by making a rough 
guess, we judged her to weigh over three hundred pounds. 
We subsequently learned that she was accompanied by two 
cubs, but that the dogs had treed them, and they had been 
killed before the mother was. Resuming the march, we 
were kept busily at work nearly all day, now shooting at a 
deer, next at a squirrel, a hare, a wild-cat, a wolf, a grouse, 
or whatever else came in our way, for the forest was well 
stocked with game. During the course of the afternoon I 
saw a bear and two cubs, and fired at one of the latter and 
hit it in the shoulder; but the mother, instead of showing 
fight, scampered away at her best pace, and left her young- 






THE BLACK BEAR. 89 

ster to the tender mercies of my friend, who finished it 
with a shot in the heart. 

Our guns were kept busy at intervals for several hours 
on both fur and feather ; but no plantigrade presented 
itself to receive our compliments until near four o'clock, 
when we came in sight of a burly male which was munch- 
ing berries in a patch of buckthorn. "We commenced 
stalking him by retreating as rapidly as possible for three 
or four hundred yards, then crawling carefully up from the 
leeward, so as not to give him our wind. After groping 
about among wet shrubbery and dodging behind trees for 
half an hour, we came to within fifty yards of our intended 
victim, and were getting ready to open fire on him, when a 
vine tripped me up, as I was trying to get a little nearer, 
and sent me sprawling headlong into a mass of apparently 
unfathomable briers that tore small lanes of blood through 
my face. When I fell, the bushes caught my gun so strong- 
ly that it was discharged within an inch of my nose; but 
I, fortunately, escaped any greater injury than having my 
mouth and eyes partially filled with fine grass, leaves, and 
particles of clay that were scattered about by the shot. By 
the time I had extricated myself from my thorny couch 
and picked out enough of the stuff in my eyes to enable 
me to gaze around, the bear and my companion had disap- 
peared, and I was left to my own emphatic thoughts and 
exasperated feelings. Xot knowing which way to move 
to find either quarry or friend, I started straight ahead, 
where I heard the dogs giving tongue, and in the course 
of twenty minutes reached the bank of a stream that was 
both deep and rapid. I tried to cross this in several places, 
as the dogs were yelping in the loudest manner on the op- 
posite side, but I found the water too deep to wade and 
too turbulent to swim ; so I was compelled to make a raft 
of two small trees which extended far out into the river, 
and whose branches were so closely entwined that they 
could not be easily separated. By pressing off the heavy 
ends with a lever made of a large bough, I got my rude 
bark afloat, and tried to push it across the stream ; but the 



1)0 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

whirlpools were too numerous and the current too strong 
to enable me to do this, and it went rushing down the riv- 
er at a pace almost sufficient to take my breath away. I 
found it extremely difficult to keep my position, as the ed- 
dies whirled the raft around so abruptly at intervals that 
the base, side, or top was alternately in front, but neither 
very long. I had ridden floating logs before in the pine- 
forests of Maine, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and thought I 
was rather dexterous in the exercise, but on no former 
occasion did I experience such a wild ride. 

Finding I could do nothing with my pole, it being per- 
fectly useless in that mad current, I let the bark go where- 
soever the water carried it, and devoted all my attention to 
retaining my seat. In the course of perhaps a quarter of an 
hour I reached a straight stretch of the river, and floated 
steadily down this at a rapid rate, but, on rounding a bend, 
I was startled to see before me an immense mass of fall- 
en trees extending across the whole width of the stream. 
Fearing a collision, I tried to push my unmanageable raft 
ashore, but my efforts were in vain, and, before I could real- 
ize my situation, the rude craft w r ent crashing into the ob- 
struction with such force that I was hurled into the water 
with a velocity that sent me almost clean to the bottom at 
one bound. I came to the surface again in a hurry, how- 
ever, but only to be caught in a whirlpool that dashed me 
against a tree with such power as to partially stun me, and 
cause me to feel as if my head and ribs were broken. In 
my wild anxiety to keep myself from the collision, I threw 
out my left hand, and, fortunately for me, caught a strong 
branch ; and when I recovered from the confusion of the 
blow, I seized this with both hands and clambered on a 
tree, but not without difficulty, as the current was so fierce 
near the logs that it threatened to sweep me under them, 
especially when my body was partially out of the water, 
as it then exercised its full strength on my legs. I reach- 
ed the barricade, however, in a short time, and on looking 
about for my gun, saw it safely lodged among the branches. 
This was a most pleasing surprise, as I expected that it was 



THE BLACK BEAR. 91 

lost in the river, and I hastened to secure it with the ut- 
most celerity. I next essayed to reach the shore ; but the 
branches were so closely entwined that a passage was ren- 
dered almost impossible, and I had to take to the water to 
pass them, holding myself against the current by clinging 
to the trunks and boughs, and pushing myself forward with 
one hand at a time, as I was desirous of keeping my gun 
from getting wet. 

After a toilsome and tedious effort I secured a foothold 
on the bottom, and crawled out on the bank, shivering, and 
&£ exhausted as a half-drowned rat. Undressing promptly, 
I wrung my clothes as dry as I could, and, after taking sev- 
eral good runs in the forest to dispel the chill from which 
I was suffering, I rehabilitated myself and started toward 
camp, as I did not know where to seek for other members 
of the party, not hearing sounds in any direction ; and, to 
be candid, my dripping garments took away all the ardor 
of the chase. Scurrying along as fast as the matted shrub- 
bery would permit me, I was lost to everything but seeking 
my quarters, when a sudden series of yelps a little to my 
right startled me into the liveliest state of activity, and into 
the most intense desire to kill something, if it were only 
a hare, to appease my disgust at the contretemps that had 
befallen me. The canine cries began to approach me grad- 
ually ; and knowing by their tones that some large game 
was afoot, I dodged behind a tree and put myself in readi- 
ness to give it an unhealthy reception. I was in position 
only a short time before a large black bear, with mouth 
open, as if it were suffering from, a wound, came tearing 
through the bushes to leeward ; but, catching my wind, it 
halted abruptly, sniffed the air for a moment or two, then 
turned to flee, but before it could disappear I put a bul- 
let into its thigh, and it fell on the ground in a heap, and 
growling terribly. Before I could fire a second time, a 
small army of Indian curs were waltzing, grinning, growl- 
ing, and barking about it, and nipping it on the flanks; but 
after every successful bite they retreated backward rapidly, 
or turned tail and bounded away for a short distance. 



92 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST 

The wounded animal tried to rise, but it could only suc- 
ceed in dragging itself forward a few feet with its forelegs. 
I knew then that both hind-legs were broken, and this in- 
duced me to approach to close quarters to finish it; but I 
found this a matter of difficulty, as the dogs were grouped 
about it so densely that to shoot at it would endanger the 
life of some of them. I tried to kick them away, but when 
driven from one position they ran to another, and remained 
there despite all my yelling. One of them, finally, was bold 
enough to make a dash for the throat of the bear ; but that 
wily animal, being too prompt for it, caught it in its jaws, 
and crushed it to death in five seconds, by breaking its 
spinal column. I rushed in to save the poor brute, and 
save the bear a cut over the head with a keen-edo;ed cime- 
ter which I carried, but my blow was too late to preserve 
its life, and, when it dropped to the ground, its spirit had 
flown to the unknown canine world. I thought the blow 
was sufficient to cut the bear's head open, but I had not 
calculated on the thickness of the skull ; and the result was 
that I only inflicted a severe wound, which made the animal 
so furious that it turned on me in the twinkling of an eye, 
and, before I knew what it was about, struck me so severe- 
ly on the arm with one of its paws that the clothing was 
torn away from shoulder to wrist, and I received a wound 
which, though not deep, was long, and very painful. When 
I saw the blood streaming out I became fairly incensed, 
and drawing my revolver, a short forty-one calibre, carry- 
ing a large charge of powder and a long bullet, I fired at its 
head in rapid succession until I emptied every chamber, 
and when all were discharged the animal was lying dead. 
Some of the bullets went clean through the skull and came 
out on the opposite side ; and one of them wounded a cur 
that would insist on keeping in the way, in the shoulder. 

When the conflict was over, the ground was freely sprin- 
kled with blood, and the bear's face was fairly covered with 
it, from the wound inflicted by the cimeter. I then turned 
my attention to my arm, and soon had that bound up, using 
my linen for a bandage; and when that was done I felt 



TEE BLACK BEAR. 93 

rather pleased with myself, as it was my first actual contest 
with the plantigrade, and I had come off better than I could 
expect. True, I had every advantage over the slain ; but 
one forgets that in his pleasure at having killed a danger- 
ous wild animal that has caused him any injury. 

Before leaving the spot I commenced shouting for help, 
and in about fifteen minutes a young brave came up. I ex- 
plained to him what had occurred, but he was content with 
saying " masatchee itsoot" which might be translated that 
it was either a bad or a dangerous bear. 

As I wished to return to camp at once, I told him to 
have the animal brought in when his party returned home; 
but he objected to my walking to the village, and said he 
would take me down in a canoe which was concealed in the 
bushes below the jam of logs in the river. I accepted his 
proposal gladly, and was soon dashing down the stream at a 
headlong pace; but my misfortunes for the day were not 
over, for, in passing under a huge fir which stretched across 
the river, I did not stoop low enough, and received, as a 
consequence, a fearful bump in the forehead which almost 
threw me backward, and made me see a greater variety of 
vari-colored stars than are* to be found in the firmament. 

What with my arm and splitting headache, I was in any- 
thing but a pleasant mood ; hence the wild and luxuriant 
forest scenery which was everywhere visible was lost to me. 
I was glad, indeed, when I reached the village, and had an 
opportunity of changing my garments and taking a stretch 
on the humble pallet of straw in my small tent. The young 
fellow who was so kind to me returned to his companions 
when I stepped ashore, but, before going, he told one of the 
women that I was wounded, and she gave me a glance in 
which there was more of curiosity than sympathy. 

After resting for an hour or more, I went out to get 
some water with w r hich to bathe my arm, as it was painful 
and very stiff; and while on my way to the river I met an 
old chief, and in response to his queries as to what ailed 
me, I told him, in a few words, in Chinook. He asked me 
to accompany him to his cabin and he would attend to the 



94 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

arm at once, so that it should not become inflamed. I ac- 
cepted his invitation, and, on reaching his place, found that 
one of his three wives had been making a decoction of 
some herbs, she having heard of my accident from the 
woman to whom it was first told. When I entered, the 
women did not speak a word, and only lifted their heads 
once ; and from this I deduced that curiosity was not a 
trait in Indian feminine nature. Their lord and master 
told them what to do, and when I had taken a seat near 
the smoky fireplace, the youngest unbound my arm and 
washed it copiously for ten or fifteen minutes with the 
prepared decoction. No one made any comments on the 
wounds ; and when the bathing was over, the arm was 
bound up again, after having the leaves of some plant, not 
unlike dog-leaves, placed over the wound. 

I waited in the chief's wigwam, or rather cabin, until 
evening, smoking and chatting ; but when I heard that the 
hunters were coming in I went out to see them. The sight 
they presented was striking, and certainly worth behold- 
ing, for they were loaded with nearly all species of game 
found in the forest, from a bear to a squirrel, and from a 
grouse to a robin. They trooped in without any noise, or 
even the smallest demonstration of pleasure, and each par- 
ty, as it arrived, placed its spoils in a common pile — though 
fur and feather were kept separate. The amount of game 
brought in was almost incredible for one day's work; but 
when I considered that the forests were fairly alive with 
animals, and that no foes threatened them except an occa- 
sional red man, I could readily understand the success of 
the party. The fishermen were also fortunate, and came 
in laden with the spoils of the river. My companion was 
among the last to arrive, and from him I learned that he 
had fired at and wounded the bear whose presence caused 
me to be tripped up, and had followed it to the river, 
where he lost it. Presuming that it had crossed over, he 
made a raft of a tree which extended partially across the 
river, by pushing the top off the bank ; and seating him- 
self on it, near the middle, the current swung the lighter 



THE BLACK BEAR. 95 

portion around sufficiently to enable hini to get to wading- 
ground, and then to the shore. On reaching the opposite 
side he heard the dogs giving tongue some distance below 
him, and hurried in their direction, but, before he could 
overtake them, they had driven their quarry across the 
stream, and followed it over. Not being able to recross, 
owing to the want of facility and the depth and strength 
of the current, he went hunting on his own responsibility, 
and managed to secure a deer before he joined a party 
of Indians. He excused himself for leaving me, on the 
ground that he did not see me fall, and mistook the report 
of my gun for an effort of mine to bag Bruin ; and seeing 
him, a splendid male, bounding away, he forgot everything 
in the desire to tumble him over. The explanation seemed 
plausible enough, and nothing further was said about his 
deserting a friend in distress. 

The young brave, known as Mowitch, or the Deer, who 
had proved a benefactor to me, saw that the animal which 
gave me the wound was brought in ; and when the prepa- 
rations for the feast were made, he skinned it, and gave me 
the hide and head, supposing that I would be glad to keep 
them as mementos of the occasion. I wondered at this 
considerateness on the part of an untutored Indian, as I 
had never before seen one of the race manifest it; but I 
learned subsequently that he was well educated, having 
been brought up in a mission school, and that his teach- 
er had taught him the lessons of kindness which had made 
him even then famous in his own tribe for goodness. He 
could speak English well when he chose to do so ; but it 
seems that he would not utter a syllable of it if the pale- 
faces with whom he came in contact spoke Chinook or his 
own dialect. The cause for this I did not learn ; but my 
own experience among the red races living between the 
Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean, and between South- 
ern Mexico and British America, has taught me to infer 
that Indians do not care to speak the language of the 
whites, except when compelled to do so from necessity. 

This brave was even kind enough to give my companion 



96 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

the heads and hides of the animals slain by ns during the 
day, and to suggest that we could have all the antlers we 
wished if they were of any use to us. His offer was ac- 
cepted with thanks, and by nightfall the door of our tent 
was surrounded by piles of skins and the heads of bears 
and deer. 

The animals, bereft of their outer covering, were put 
into pots and boiled ; but some, and especially the young 
bears, were placed in pits in which fires had been burning 
all day, and were covered with red-hot stones and earth 
and grass, so that none of the heat should escape. While 
the large game was being prepared for the feast in pits 
and pots, the feathered game was being cooked before the 
blazing wood-fires by the squaws, and the fish fizzled and 
steamed amidst heaps of hot ashes. Every feminine mem- 
ber of the encampment seemed to be busy in cooking for 
the great occasion ; and while some baked unleavened 
cakes of flour or camas before the fire, others attended 
to the cooking of the wapato or wild -potato, and the 
boiling of certain herbs, which might be called greens in 
the general sense of the term, though, to be literal, they 
ought to be called thin grasses. When the grand dinner 
was ready, all hands "set to," as they say in Scotland, 
and were soon devouring the dainties with all the vigor 
that a keen appetite and a capacious maw could impart. 
Scarcely a word was spoken by old or young during the 
meal, they being too busily engaged in filling the stomach 
to devote any time to the pleasures of conversation. No 
person used a knife or fork, and plates were exceedingly 
scarce, for I only saw two among the entire lot, and these 
were used by the chiefs. 

We roamed about among the various clusters, yet no 
person asked us to join in the festival, and we received 
no more attention than wandering spectres. We did not 
care for this, however, as we did not wish to accept their 
hospitality, our taste being too dainty to enjoy the gross 
food which they gulped down like so many wild animals. 
The novelty of the affair was highly appreciated, however, 



THE BLACK BEAM. 97 

as the scene was exceedingly interesting, and would have 
delighted the soul of an artist; for in the same groups 
could be seen old men and women whose skins were like 
rumpled parchment, and whose bones were apparently so 
brittle that any attempt to use them in walking or other 
exercise would result in an instantaneous breaking, and 
young bucks and squaws who were ideal representatives 
of savage strength and beauty. The lurid glare of the 
fires on their faces; the darkness that reigned about 
them; the scantiness and tawdriness of their costumes; 
the mingling of all ages and sexes; and the crunching of 
bones or tearing of meat between the fingers, made such 
a scene as could not be witnessed outside the United 
States, in all probability, and one which even there would 
be worth travelling far to behold. Although my arm 
ached badly, I went about among the groups, and enjoyed 
the romantic strangeness of the picture they presented so 
much that it was long past midnight ere I retired to rest. 

When the feasting was over, the young braves indulged 
in rude songs and dances ; but the latter were all alike, 
consisting simply in jumping around in a circle and grunt- 
ing as if they had a bad stomach-ache. Every dance 
wound up with a tremendous scream or war-whoop, in 
which all used the utmost power of their lungs to the 
best advantage. The squaws and old men looked on with 
approval at the Terpsichorean evolutions of the warriors, 
and the latter sometimes gave them a word of encourage- 
ment, or rated them for not performing a certain dance 
in a proper manner. Some of the braves related their 
own great deeds in the hunting-field, or those of their an- 
cestors on the war-path, during the intervals between the 
dances, and these were frequently interrupted with the 
approbative intonations of "wmo"by the auditors. When 
my comrade and myself left the encampment, the orators 
and Terpsichoreans were under full headway, and, I doubt 
not, kept up their frolic until morning, as they seemed 
bent on seeing it out. Their wild cries reached our tent 
occasionally during the night, aud it was not until day- 

5 



98 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

light appeared that they ceased ; but even then we could 
hear the guttural tones of the gamesters as they droned 
out their "hu ha" in the game of "guess which hand 
holds the pebble." This childish game is played by op- 
posite sides, there being from five to twenty on each side, 
and they continue it until they become weary or some of 
the members lose everything, even to the honor of their 
family. After these gambling contests some of the men 
are homeless, and perhaps wifeless, and cannot even claim 
their life if their opponents wish to take it from them. 

When I arose the next day many of the visitors to the 
poilatch were leaving for home, but they departed without 
even saying good-bye to their hosts, so far as I could see. 
I do not know that they have even a word to express this 
sentiment ; but they evidently, whether they have or not, 
care little for mere phrases, and depart without consider- 
ing that a word or two would mar or make their welcome, 
as it does in civilized communities. When the majority 
of the guests had left we struck our tent, and, bidding the 
chief good-bye, secured a canoe to take us to salt-water in 
Puget Sound, whence we could find a sailing-vessel or a 
steamer to take us to our destination in Washington Ter- 
ritory. The run down the river was made in a short time, 
as the current bowled us along at the rate of eight or nine 
knots an hour, and our three paddles increased this speed 
considerably. On reaching Puget Sound, my companion 
wended his way northward to British Columbia, while I 
proceeded to Mnckilteo, a fishing hamlet on the Sound, 
thence moved into the country, where I remained until my 
arm was in as good condition as ever. While stopping 
there I had an adventure with a bear that promised to be 
more dangerous than my last encounter. While trout-fish- 
ing one clay, a bear, which was pursued by dogs, swam the 
river a short distance below me ; and thinking I could get 
a shot at it with my revolver, I concealed myself in some 
tall bushes in order to be ready to pounce upon it the mo- 
ment it struck land. Not hearing any noise, I began to 
poke my head above the bushes gradually, to take a glance 



THE BLA CK BEAR. 9 9 

about me ; but the moment my hat appeared above the 
shrubbery two bullets went whizzing past me so close that 
I fancied I could feel their wind on my face. I dodged 
back in a second, and yelled out in stentorian tones what 
in the name of goodness such wise men were firing at. A 
shout across the stream informed me that I was mistaken 
for a bear, and, on emerging from my leafy covert, I asked 
if I looked like a bear. Two hunters laughingly informed 
me that I did not when they saw the whole of my body, 
but that my hat looked suspiciously like the head of the 
animal in the distance. The mistake was a natural one 
under the circumstances, but it came too near being a fatal 
one to me to make its repetition pleasant. 

The hunt with the Indians may lead persons to think 
that an angry bear, even at its worst, is no great foe after 
all, and this would prove true were one well armed and 
ready to meet it, but such is not always the case; hence I 
would suggest to those in pursuit of the animal to be cau- 
tious at least, or disaster may follow. It may not be able 
to do a great deal of harm to a sturdy man, yet I have 
heard so many well authenticated accounts of the injury it 
has inflicted on them sometimes, that I believe them en- 
titled to the fullest credence. As examples, I may quote 
the following incidents : A miner who worked on the 
Lumni River had his cabin invaded one evening by a bear, 
which was evidently attracted there by a deer that hung 
just inside the door. The man, on seeing the animal walk 
in so unconcernedly, yelled at it ; but, before leaving, it 
seized a quarter of the deer, and was moving away with it 
in the most unceremonious manner, when the miner attack- 
ed it with an axe. The bear turned at once and made a 
desperate fight for life, using its powerful claws and teeth 
whenever it could close with the foe. The miner, after 
being severely bitten two or three times, and having his 
clothes and flesh torn, got a fair blow with the sharp edge 
of the axe at its head, and this stunned it. Following up 
his advantage, he got in three or four more in a few sec- 
onds, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing it drop dead 



100 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

at his feet. On examining his own wounds, he found that 
the left arm was severely injured, and that the flesh was 
torn rather severely on parts of the arms and thighs. As 
they were all flesh wounds, however, he congratulated him- 
self on his escape ; yet they were severe enough to lay him 
up for two months, and to make him go to the settlements 
for surgical aid and attendance. 

A man whom I met in Montana was made a cripple for 
life by a bear because he shot one of her cubs. He was 
taking the young one away, when the mother overtook him 
and attacked him without a moment's hesitation. The 
struggle was a severe one; but the hunter finally caught 
her by the throat, and pressing on that part with all his 
might, soon reduced her to such a condition of weakness 
that he was enabled to take out a large pocket-knife which 
he carried, and to cut her jugular vein. When the con- 
test was over, he was so exhausted from his wounds and 
the loss of blood that he fainted, and it was only by mak- 
ing the most strenuous efforts that he was able to get 
home. An examination proved that the animal had cut 
some of the tendons of the right foot and broken some of 
the ankle-bones, besides lacerating the arms and chest. 

Another individual of whom I heard in Colorado follow- 
ed a wouuded bear into the undergrowth, and was attack- 
ed by it. His rifle being unloaded, he was unable to use 
any other means of defence than a knife; but before he 
could inflict any damage with that he was overpowered, 
and injured so severely that he died in two days after be- 
ing brought home. When found by one of his neighbors 
he was apparently dead, nor did he ever recover conscious- 
ness, for the skull was injured in two places as if it had 
been struck with a hammer. 

Accidents less serious than these frequently occur, but 
they are too often due to want of caution, and to suppos- 
ing an animal killed when it is only wounded seriously 
enough to make it desperate. 

The only instance in which I was chased by a black bear 
occurred in Washington Territory, and that taught me a 



THE BLA CK BEAR. \ 0. 1 

lesson I have not forgotten. Having expressed a desire to 
an acquaintance, who farmed in summer and hunted in 
winter, to go on a " bearing " expedition, he kindly assent- 
ed to my proposal, and made preparations for it by cook- 
ing plenty of food, and securing two mustangs, or cay uses, 
as they are called in the North -west, to transport our 
blankets and provisions out and our game back, as we in- 
tended to be absent two or three days. Our armament 
consisted of a muzzle-loading rifle which I carried, and a 
shot-gun borne by my comrade ; our food was confined to 
boiled mutton and home-made bread ; and our companions 
to two small, active, and noisy curs, which thought it nec- 
essary to bark at every bird and animal they saw. Hav- 
ing started at 6 a.m., we found ourselves about twelve 
miles from home by mid-day, and deeply immerged in a 
dense forest of those gigantic firs and spruces indigenous 
to the North-west. After resting for a few minutes to load 
our guns and to eat a simple repast, which was washed 
down with water, we went searching for bear " signs," and 
soon found them plentiful enough ; for the berries were 
cleaned off quite a large patch of bushes, old logs had been 
stripped of their bark where they concealed grubs and 
ants, and some of the young trees contained marks of a 
large male's teeth, which was advertising his presence 
and portliness by placing his sign -manual as high upon 
them as he could reach. It is a peculiarity of the male 
that he will sometimes leave the impressions of his teeth 
as high up on some of the undergrowth as he can reach, 
as if he were desirous of making his dimensions known to 
other members of his family. What this signifies no one 
seems to know, though the surmises are many. Having 
noted these, the dogs, which had been previously kept at 
heel, were set to work to arouse the advertiser, and in less 
than ten minutes they were yelping in their loudest tone. 
I ran in one direction on hearing this notification, and my 
companion in the opposite, so that we might head off the 
game should it break from a straight course. After run- 
ning for a few minutes, I saw a dark object dodging 



102 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 






through the thick shrubbery; and judging from its size 
that it was the animal whose life I sought, I raised my 
rifle, pointed it as steadily as my palpitation would permit, 
and banged away. When the echo of the report ceased 
I heard a crashing of the bushes, and this was followed by 
a painful, vicious growl. Moving forward cautiously, and 
peering closely into the shrubbery, I saw the lover of ber- 
ries stretched on its side and gasping violently, as if in 
the throes of mortal dissolution. This induced me to lay 
down my rifle, and seizing the fallen limb of a tree, which 
was large, crooked, and unwieldy, I gave Bruin a tremen- 
dous whack with it on the occipital region ; but no sooner 
was the blow given than the animal sprung up and charged 
me. I raised the club to give it a second blow on the 
head ; but the animal not only parried it with its paw, but 
bi'oke it short in my hand. Being unarmed, I concluded 
to retreat; and I flatter myself that I did it in admirable 
style, for I clambered rapidly over felled trees of large di- 
mensions, leaped the smaller ones, and tore through the 
thick undergrowth, which lashed my face with incisive 
sharpness, until, in a short time, I reached a clump of the 
many-trunked vine-maple, and up one of these I clambered 
with a speed of which I afterward felt proud. 

The bear followed close on my track, and from its growls 
I expected to be in its embraces every moment ; but the 
wound affected its coursing powers, and I was safe in my 
perch before it reached the foot. I felt perfectly safe 
where I was, as the trunk was too small for a bear to 
climb ; and the protruding tongue and deep gasps of my 
pursuer proved that my leaden pill had sapped the vigor 
of its frame. Had I been a hero of the chivalric school I 
might have descended and ended the contest by a hand-to- 
hand encounter; but having scruples about risking my per- 
son or my clothes, I was content to remain where I was, 
and to shout for aid by yelling " hoo-oo-pee-ee," which the 
woods re-echoed many times. In a few minutes — though 
it seemed a long while to me — I heard an answering call, 
and, in a short time after, the yelping of the curs. Bruin, 



THE BLACK BEAR. 103 

on heaving the latter, concluded that the wisest course 
would be to retreat, and this it did, though slowly and 
very laboriously. 

When the dogs passed my prison I descended, and 
when my companion arrived I secured his shot-gun and 
started in pursuit of the jailer. I overtook it in a few 
minutes, the dogs having brought it to bay by nipping at 
it whenever it attempted to escape, and, on a good oppor- 
tunity being presented, I let it have both barrels at short 
range in rapid succession, and it fell dead in its track. On 
looking for where I hit it the first time, I found that the 
bullet had passed through the anterior portion of the wind- 
pipe from side to side. This was what had saved me, as 
its breathing was too difficult to enable it to run rapidly, 
or even to climb well. 

While out on that hunt we killed three adidts and two 
cubs, but I took excellent care to avoid getting to close 
quarters with them, and to feel assured that they were 
dead before I tried any familiarity. 

I have had some hunts after this animal which had their 
ludicrous side also. I was, on one occasion, running down 
the Chehalis River in a canoe, my companions being an 
Indian gondolier and a sporting Esculapius who was the 
surgeon on an Indian reservation. While rushing down 
in a swift current that bowled us along at the rate of five 
miles an hour, we came suddenly upon a young bear swim- 
ming across the stream. The doctor became excited at 
once, and ordered the red man to ply the paddle vigorous- 
ly and get alongside it before it could reach the shore. He 
complied, and we were soon ranged beside it; but as we 
had no weapons except small pocket revolvers, and the ani- 
mal was young, the doctor insisted that it ought not to be 
shot, but be captured alive. All parties being willing, the 
doctor, who was in the bow of the canoe, attempted to 
throw a rope around its head, and in his efforts to do so 
tilted the boat somewhat, lost his balance, and went head- 
long into the water on top of the bear. The latter gave a 
growl of terror and attempted to break away; but it some- 



104 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

how got entangled in the rope, so that when the disciple of 
Esculapius rose to the surface he found himself clinging to 
one end of the cord and the bear to the other, and both 
pulling in opposite directions. The scene was so ludicrous 
that even the stoical gondolier laughed heartily, and shout- 
ed, " Closh doctol; hyas closh " — well done, doctor ; very- 
well done. As the current was carrying them down the 
stream, and the doctor was puffing loudly, and the bear 
hoarsely screaming, we took the former aboard for fear of 
any accident — though not without some clanger of getting 
a spill ourselves, owing to the lightness of the canoe — and, 
paddling toward the shore, we dragged the captive after 
us. Before landing, we found that it was too large to be 
made a pet of, so we killed it by shooting it through the 
head with our pocket revolvers, and gave the carcass to 
the Indian, who was delighted to have it. The doctor 
dried his clothes at an Indian hut before going to the res- 
ervation on which he was stationed ; and, on reaching 
there, he took veiy good care not to mention a word about 
bis accident, for fear of being made a target for ridicule. 

I was out on another occasion after grouse with a public 
singer, and he, being unused to walking, stopped to rest in 
the woods while I trudged on in search of game. I had 
not been two minutes away before I saw him running to- 
ward me at his best pace, and shouting my name. Think- 
ing he was being pursued by some drunken Indians, I 
cocked my gun and awaited developments. On reaching 
me, he said that a bear had jumped out of a burned tree- 
stump close by him, and had frightened him badly. I 
went back to the stump, but, although it was hollow, I 
could see no indications that a bear had inhabited it at any 
time, and I told him so. Assuming that he had been some- 
what rash in his fright, and fearing the result if the tale 
were told to his acquaintances, he promised to sing all the 
way into town if I would not " peach " on him. I prom- 
ised to comply on this condition, and the result was that he 
sung all the popular songs the entire distance. When we 
reached the outskirts of the town he wished to cease ; but 



THE BLACK BEAR. 105 

I insisted on his singing as far as the hotel, or relating the 
story when we reached there, and he reluctantly consented. 
While passing down the main street his dulcet tones at- 
tracted the attention of several persons, and some who 
knew him must have presumed that he was laboring under 
some unusual mental excitement. A few called at the hotel 
to learn what ailed him, and these he told that he had shot 
a bear, and was so overjoyed at the matter that he had 
to indulge in siuging to soothe his ecstatic feelings. The 
story passed current for awhile, but, unfortunately, the 
leading paper of the town heard the true story, and the 
exploit of the bear-hunting hero was announced in a col- 
umn of double -leaded matter. He fell at once from his 
high estate as a Nirnrod, and it took many an " I know 
you're thirsty, boys," to prevent the " boys " from inquir- 
ing about how it was exactly that he shot that bear, and 
how far the terrified animal ran before dying of fright at 
seeing him. 



106 SPOllTISG AD VEST CUES IS TEE FAR WEST. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE COUGAR AND LYNXES. 

The Cougar. — Variety of its Names. — Size, Weight, Strength, Color, and 
General Characteristics. — Its Peculiarities when treed. — How Farmers 
kill it. — Anecdotes of its Courage. — A Fight with a Wolf and a Bear. 
— Desperate Struggle between a Cougar and an Unarmed Man in Ore- 
gon. — Two Kittens captured. — Death of the Dam. — A Wild Cougar 
plays with a Man in Washington Territory. — His Fright and Escape. — 
An Episode in Minnesota. — My First Cougar. — A Weird Funeral Cere- 
mony among the Digger Indians. — Why the Californians are called Tar 
Heads. — My next Capture, and another Form of an Indian Funeral. — 
A Hunt in the Cascade Range. — Death of a Cougar. — My Companion 
wounded. — Legend of an Enchanted Lake. — A Cougar cripples an In- 
dian. — Dangerous Character of the Animal. — The best Time for hunt- 
ing it. — A Night Hunt, and its serious Result. — Deatli of Two Cougars. 
— Other Members of the Cat Family. — Difference between Lynxes and 
true Cats. — How to distinguish them. — Lynx-hunts. — I kill Four in 
one Mouth. — Characteristics of the Genus. — Lynx-hunting as a Sport. 

The cougar (Felts concolor) boasts a larger variety of 
names than any animal on the continent, being known as 
the puma, mountain lion, California lion, painter, and pan- 
ther, besides the first mentioned ; and some persons, in 
writing of sport in America, have made all these cogno- 
mens into distinct animals, and have gone so far as to 
give them different characteristics and varied degrees of 
ferocity. 

The cougar is the largest of the Felklce found in the 
United States, except the jaguar, or Mexican tiger (Fells 
ong.d) ; but that is confined in its northern range to por- 
tions of Texas, and is nowhere abundant, not even along 
the Brazos River. The former is quite common in the 
wooded regions beyond the Rocky Mountains, and its 
sharp, high screams in early morning frequently send the 
blood bounding: through the veins of the wanderer amidst 



THE COUGAlt AND LYNXES. 



107 



forest depths. Though not often a dangerous foe until 
brought to bay or roused by hunger, owing to its natural 
cautiousness and timidity of character, yet its shrieks are 
so loud and penetrating that no person can hear them 
without feeling a thrill run through his body, and, if un- 
armed, without taking excellent care to avoid an encounter 
with it if possible. 

An adult male weighs on an average from eighty to one 
hundred and fifty pounds; but in portions of the South, 




T1IE PTLMA, OR OOTTGAB. 



where the climate is favorable and food abundant, it at- 
tains greater weight than this. One shot near Elbow 
Creek, in Southern Florida, in December, 1873, measured 
nine feet four inches in length, and weighed two hundred 
and forty pounds. The skin of this monster is now, I be- 
lieve, to be seen in the parlor of the Argonauta Rowing- 
club, at Bergen Point, New Jersey. The usual length of 
the cougar varies from four and a half to five feet, from 



108 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

nose to tail; but I have heard persons say that it some- 
times attains a length of body of seven or more feet in 
portions of Florida and Texas. I have hunted in some 
of the best game regions of these States, and bagged a 
cougar occasionally ; but I never saw one possessing such 
proportions, and I am rather doubtful if it exists, as that 
measurement would bring it up to the standard of the 
lion or grizzly bear. The two largest that I killed in the 
West measured, respectively, fifty-four and fifty-six inches, 
exclusive of the tail, and they were considered to be good- 
sized animals. The longest caucla measured was thirty- 
three inches, so that the animal had a total length of seven 
feet five inches. The height of the tallest one I ever kill- 
ed was a fraction over thirty-one inches; the body was 
thirty inches around, and the head was a little more than 
twenty inches long. 

Twenty-four hours after the death of the largest I had 
an opportunity of weighing it, and it turned the scales at 
one hundred and thirty -seven and a half pounds. This 
weight, when propelled by strong muscles, and placed in 
intense activity by rage, is no mean force for an unarmed 
man to encounter and vanquish; hence one cannot well 
blame the Indians for the fear of the animal they display, 
or their pride in killing one. 

The color of the cougar is a brownish-yellow above, and 
a pale red or dusky- white beneath; the lower jaw and 
throat are white ; and the whiskers, which are rather long, 
are white, and rise in a blackish base. It has no mane, 
nor any tuft on the extremity of the tail ; its hair is soft 
and dense over the limbs and body ; and the color is so 
much alike in both sexes that they cannot be distinguished 
by the looks of pelaye. 

The female brings forth her young in the spring, the 
number at a birth varying from two to four, and the pe- 
riod of gestation being about ninety-seven days. 

The character of the cougar is like that of the cat family 
in general, whether wild or domesticated ; and this may 
be summed up by saying that it is naturally timid and 



THE COUGAR AND LYNXES. 109 

will flee before man, but is exceedingly fierce and daring 
when pressed by hunger, when wounded, or when defend- 
ing its young. Affection for the latter is manifested only 
by the mother, however, for the male would destroy and 
eat them did he have the opportunity; and even the fe- 
male is not always safe from his sudden and ungallant 
temper. 

The favorite haunts of the cougar are amidst the deep- 
est recesses of the forest, where it can obtain food and the 
close concealment so natural to its habits ; and, being noc- 
turnal in character, it seeks its prey principally at night, 
or early in the morning. It is seldom seen abroad during 
the day, unless severely pressed by hunger; and then it 
will go boldly anywhere and face man without a moment's 
hesitation, or make a raid on a farm-yard despite the pro- 
tests of furious dogs. In the forests of the North-west, 
however, it is seldom compelled to risk its life to procure 
food, as it can obtain a plentiful supply without much 
trouble, owing to the abundance of deer, hares, squirrels, 
and other small animals, which it captures readily by 
bounding upon them suddenly from a tree or the thick 
undergrowth of the forests, where it always lies in conceal- 
ment. Whatever it catches, let it be small or large, it first 
cuts open the throat and drinks the blood, and if its appe- 
tite is not then satisfied it devours the flesh ; and should 
any remain over, it is carefully covered with leaves, to be 
kept for the next meal, or a " rainy day." When lying in 
wait for its prey, it seeks the shelter of a thicket or crouch- 
es on the lower branches of a tree ; and the moment a 
hare, a deer, or even a wolf passes by, it jumps on its 
back, and, fastening its claws in the sides of the poor cap- 
tives, cuts open the neck or throat in a few seconds. Its 
strength may be inferred from the fact that it can drag 
a deer, weighing perhaps one hundred and fifty pounds, a 
long distance, and can run quite rapidly with a large dog 
in its mouth. It has been known to kill a sheep, and with- 
out doing anything more to it than to drink its blood, 
bound away with the carcass at such a rate of speed that 



110 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST 

a man on foot found a difficulty in overtaking it. Should 
it commit depredations on a farm-yard, the farmer gen- 
erally starts in pursuit with dogs and guns, or spreads 
strychnine over a piece of meat and places it in a spot 
where it will prove most effective. Numbers are destroy- 
ed annually by this means in the West, and, as a result, 
they are becoming scarcer in certain sections. When 
pursued, or startled on the ground, the cougar bounds 
for the densest thicket, or scrambles up the first conven- 
ient tree and conceals itself amidst the branches. Extend- 
ing itself on a bough, it is sometimes difficult to find if 
it remains quiet; but it has a habit of swinging its tail 
from side to side, and of purring loudly if enemies ap- 
proach its retreat, and these cause it to be detected when 
it otherwise would not. 

Its courage is sufficiently great to induce it to face any 
foe, from bear to man, in a case of emergency. I heard 
an old hunter say that he once saw a fight between a black 
bear and a cougar, and that the latter killed its adversary 
in less than twenty minutes, by leaping on its neck and 
cutting the spinal cord with its lance-like teeth. Bruin 
did not die, however, without a severe struggle, and inflict- 
ing such injuries on the other that it would undoubtedly 
have died of its wounds had the hunter not shot it as it 
was crawling into the shrubbery. On examining it, he 
found that one of its hind-legs was broken, and the flesh 
torn off by a sweeping blow of the bear's paw, and that 
it also had a severe wound in the neck. The cougar was 
evidently the aggressor in this case, and was incited to 
the combat either by hunger or a desire to defend its 
young, as he found that it was a large female whose teats 
were full of milk. 

He saw, on another occasion, a fight between a cougar 
and a wolf, and, according to his statement, it was one 
worth beholding, as they tumbled over and over each oth- 
er, and caused the leaves to fly about as wildly as if two 
moose were engaged in a deadly contest. Knowing which 
one would win, he loaded his gun with buckshot, and, ap- 



THE COUGAR A XL LYXXES. 



Ill 



proaching them to within a distance of thirty yards, he 
fired both barrels at their heads in rapid succession, and 
killed them in their tracks. Both were full-grown, heavy 
animals, and that they were possessed of strength was 
proved by the number of wounds on their bodies, and the 
maimer in which the ground was torn up. 

A proof that the cougar is no mean foe to encounter 
may be illustrated by the following anecdote : 

A farmer in Oregon was returning home one day from 
market at a rather late hour, but he had not proceeded 
half a mile from town before he met a large cougar on the 




IKKNCJLOB— THE riLMA. 



road. Being unarmed, he did not care to assail it; and as 
he did not want to retreat or take the trouble of flanking 
it by cutting across fields, he picked up a stone and fired 
at it, to drive it away; but, instead of complying with his 
desires, it crouched on the ground, as if preparing for a 
spring. Xot liking its actions by any means, he gave a 
fierce shout; but, instead of fleeing, as it generally does, 
from the human voice, it bounded at him, and, sti'iking him 
full on the breast, knocked him down. Then commenced 
a fierce struggle between man and beast. The latter caught 
the former by the upper part of the arm and fastened its 



112 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

claws in his breast ; but he, being of a powerful frame, 
seized his foe by the throat and held it in a vise-like grip 
until it let go its hold. He held it in that position until 
he got on his feet, when he flung it away from him and 
attempted to escape, but the brute was not to be balked, 
and, before he ran three paces, it sprung upon him once 
more, and again a desperate struggle commenced, in which 
the man was getting the worst of it, as he was severely bit- 
ten in the arms, and his sides and chest were torn by its 
long, hooked, and iron-like claws. Seeing that his strength 
would soon be exhausted unless he could kill the animal, 
he made a desperate effort to choke it ; but he was so 
weak from the contest and loss of blood that his efforts 
were futile. He had about given up all hope of his life, 
when he saw a large stone on the road ; and seizing that 
eagerly, and despite the assaults of his fierce foe, he began 
to rain blows on the head of the latter with all his strength 
for several seconds. These caused it to loosen its hold on 
his arm and to drop to the ground, its face besmeared with 
blood ; and when the farmer saw that, he hurled the stone 
with all his might at its skull and sent it crashing into the 
brain, killing it almost instantaneously. When the victory 
was won, he fell in a swoon from exhaustion and the loss of 
blood, and was in that condition when he was found by a 
neighbor of his who was going home in a wagon. Both 
the combatants were placed in the vehicle and taken back 
to town, for the man was so severely wounded that surgi- 
cal aid was promptly required, and there he remained for 
two months before he w r as deemed sufficiently recovered to 
go home. 

An acquaintance of mine, while out grouse-shooting one 
day, met two cougar kittens, apparently about three months 
old, and chased them at once. Finding they would be over- 
taken, they clambered up a young fir, and he followed in 
hot pursuit, and soon had them by the nape of the neck. 
He held them in that position while he searched in his 
pocket for a piece of twine with which to tie them, and 
during that time they were "youling" loudly and trying 



TEE COUGAR AND LYNXES. 113 

to break away. Having secured them, lie was preparing 
to descend, when a new foe, in the form of their mother, 
appeared on the scene. She had evidently deserted them 
for a few minutes to provide them with provender, as she 
carried a large hare in her month. When she heard their 
cries, and saw them in the arms of a Philistine, she drop- 
ped the hare and bounded on to the lower limb of the tree, 
which must have been at least fifteen or twenty feet high. 
The hunter having left his gun on the ground, to enable 
him to climb with greater facility, was in a quandary, as 
he had nothing better than a pocket-knife with which to 
defeud himself. He was a man of ready resources, how- 
ever, and, not caring to risk his life or lose the youngsters, 
he concluded to await the onslaught of their protector. 
When she clambered, or rather sprung, to the next limb, 
he was enabled to reach her with his foot by clinging 
around the trunk of the tree, and, dropping the captives, 
he made a tremendous downward kick at her head. She 
raised on her hind -legs to parry the blow, so he missed 
her ; but he struck the light branch on which she was sit- 
ting with such force that he almost severed it from the 
trunk, and caused the outer part to point directly down- 
ward. The result was much better than he anticipated, 
for the cougar lost her balance, and went crashing through 
the branches to the ground, a distance of perhaps thirty or 
more feet, and struck it with such vehemence that she was 
stunned. As soon as he saw her shooting downward he 
scrambled to the broken branch, and, seizing it with both 
hands, threw his full weight on it, and swinging himself 
sideways, tore it from its fastenings, and was soon on the 
grass, armed with an unwieldy but most effective battering- 
ram. Before the cougar could get ready for another spring 
at him — for the shock had evidently kuocked much of the 
courage out of her, if it had not seriously injured her — he 
gave her two or three swingeing blows on the head to ex- 
pel any remaining pluck, then ran for his shot-gun a few 
feet away. Seizing that hurriedly, he took aim at her eyes, 
which glowed so much with rage and hate that they were 



114 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

of a reddish-emerald hue, and planted two loads of No. 6 
shot in thera. The closeness of the range sent the pellets 
through the eyes into the brain, and she fell dead where 
she crouched. Feeling assured of her fate, he went up af- 
ter the kittens, which were mewing terribly, and brought 
them safely down, notwithstanding their many protests 
with tooth and nail. As he could not carry both the kit- 
tens and their dam at the same time, he was compelled to 
leave the latter and go to an Indian encampment close by, 
and get a couple of siwashes to bring her in. While await- 
ing the return of the messengers he felt the stocking of 
one foot getting wet, and, on looking to see what was the 
matter, found that his leg was bleeding profusely from a 
wound which the slain animal had inflicted on him with 
her claws when he kicked at her. Binding that up, he en- 
gaged a canoe to take him home, and, as soon as he re- 
ceived his trophy, started off amidst the highest expres- 
sions of admiration that the Indians could give, as they 
looked upon his feat as a most remarkable one, and him- 
self as a hero of no small magnitude. 

The kittens were carefully housed and petted in every 
possible manner ; but though playful when young, as soon 
as they became old enough to display their natural temper 
they were anything but playful or pleasant companions. 
They would bear no familiarity; and whenever they es- 
caped, as they sometimes did, they would destroy fowls in 
the most indiscriminate manner, and apparently without 
any other purpose than to satisfy their bump of destruc- 
tiveness, for they did not attempt to eat them. They were 
attached to no person, not even to him who fed them ha- 
bitually ; and as all the feeding and kindness in the world 
could not arouse a spark of affection in them, or overcome 
their propensity to destroy everything they could seize, 
even to the house -cat, they were shot before they were 
eighteen months old. 

One of them escaped on one occasion, but its absence 
being detected in a few moments after, the dogs were sent 
in pursuit. They espied it heading for a copse some few 



THE COUGAR AND LYNXES. 115 

hundred yards away, and announced the matter by a vigor- 
ous yelping. When it reached a deep but narrow stream 
that separated the woods from the house it plunged in 
boldly, clambered up the other side, and sought refuge in 
a tree. It was soon caught, however, and dragged back to 
the kennel a degraded, " voiding " captive. This incident 
would prove that the animal will voluntarily take to wa- 
ter, and it is, I believe, one of the few species of the Felidoe 
that will do it; but my experience is that it will avoid it 
as carefully as any member of its family unless driven to it 
by stern necessity. 

A proof that the animal in its wild state can be playful 
with man sometimes may be deduced from an incident that 
occurred in Washington Territory. A farmer, on his way 
to Olympia, the capital of the Territory, was passing one 
evening over the road that leads through the dense forests 
which stretch southward for miles from the town. These 
are almost of Plutonian darkness after the sun sets, owing 
to their density and towering altitude, so that one cannot 
see ten paces ahead. While walking leisurely along, he 
was surprised to feel something touch his leg, and, on look- 
ing down, was almost dazed to see a huge cougar rubbing- 
its head against him, and purring pleasantly. Seeing that 
it was in evident good-humor, while he was defenceless in 
case of an attack, he moved onward in a sort of half-stupe- 
fied condition, for his heart was beating violently, and he 
dared not utter a sound through fear of arousing its anger. 
The animal accompanied him for a mile or more, and gam- 
bolled around him in the most playful manner, now running 
ahead for several yards, then bounding back and rubbing 
its head and side against him strongly, as a pet house-cat 
would. Knowing the treacherous nature of the brute, he 
expected every moment to be assailed ; and the blood was 
often sent coursing violently and spasmodically through his 
body, and cold chills crept over him whenever he saw it 
plunging into the woods, then come leaping toward him at 
its best pace, and colliding with his legs so vigorously that 
he feared sometimes that he would be knocked down ; and 



116 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

if such an accident occurred he was afraid that its natural 
instinct would prevail, and that he would be pounced upon. 
It began to get wearied after awhile of the gambolling, and 
kept closer to him ; its tail also began to swing suspicious- 
ly from side to side, and its loud purring was occasionally 
transformed into a blood-curdling scream. Just as he was 
about giving up all hopes of getting rid of it quietly, he 
heard the rumble of approaching wheels, and taking cour- 
age from this indication of help, he gave a loud and pro- 
longed yell, in which there was more of fear than defiance. 
The cougar was startled so much by this fierce and unex- 
pected cry that it fled into the woods terror-stricken, and 
disappeared like magic in the shrubbery. When the driver 
of the wagon approached the man, he found him so weak 
from excitement that he could hardly speak, but he recov- 
ered himself after a little while and told his tale. He was 
driven to town, and, after taking a long pull at something 
stronger than tea, was himself again ; but he will not to his 
dying day, probably, forget his agonizing half-hour with a 
cougar. 

I heard of another instance in Minnesota, in which a 
cougar leaped from a tree upon the driver of a wagon who 
was carrying home some fresh meat from town. When 
the animal made the leap it knocked the man back in the 
wagon ; but before it could do any more harm than to 
claw him severely, he tumbled out on the road at the tail- 
board, while his horses bounded away at full speed, carry- 
ing the assailant with them. They say the man was so 
frightened that he stayed in the road all night, with his 
nose stuck in the dust ; and on being rallied about his 
courage the next day, he nonchalantly replied that he was 
not going to take any chances, and he would rather lie in 
the dust than in the stomach of a cougar. 

The first time I had the pleasure of killing one of these 
fierce cats I was stopping at a rancher's cabin near the foot 
of the Sierra Nevada Mountains for a few days. While 
sleeping soundly one night after a hard day's hunting, I 
was startled suddenly by the barking of dogs, the cackling 



THE COUGAR AND LYNXES. 117 

of fowls, and the squealing of pigs. Supposing some In- 
dians or horse-thieves were making a raid on the house, 
I jumped out of bed and dressed as rapidly as possible; 
but, before that simple operation was finished, the clamor 
outside had ceased, except an occasional cackle. 

The host next appeared on the scene armed with a rifle, 
and, giving me a loaded shot-gun, we went into the yard to 
see what the matter was. A momentary investigation re- 
vealed the condition of affairs; for near the corner of the 
yard we found the dead body of a magnificent dog, of 
which the owner was very proud, on account of his pecul- 
iar intelligence and affectionate disposition. He was a 
cross between a Newfoundland and a mastiff, and inher- 
ited the good qualities of both parents, being brave, kind, 
and faithful. His ribs were broken, and the abdomen torn 
away, so that the viscera protruded. "A painter did that," 
was the host's laconic expression ; and after a long pause, 
as if trying to overcome his feelings, he vehemently as- 
serted that he would have the cougar's hide before he was 
twenty-four hours older, or know why. A further exami- 
nation proved that the brute had carried away a young pig 
about four months old, and had escaped by leaping a two- 
rail fence with it. There were several other dogs in the 
yard besides the one slain, but none had the courage, ap- 
parently, to attack the prowler, and the result was that the 
dead animal paid the usual forfeit of heedless bravery. 
We were aroused at daylight the next morning by the 
yelping of the dogs again, and, on rushing out, found that 
they were barking at a number of Digger Indians who 
were moving past the house toward a large piece of woods 
half a mile away. When we appeared on the scene one of 
the men approached the fence, and taking off his nether 
garment, the only one which he wore, except a battered, 
crownless tall hat, or " chimney-pot," as it is known in por- 
tions of the West, he handed it over to Mr. V , and, 

with the simple word " keep," and some pantomimic gest- 
ures, he gave him to understand that he wished it kept 
until it was called for. Mr. V took it grudgingly, and, 



118 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

holding it as far away from his person as possible, told the 
owner that his wishes should be complied with, and he 
started away in lighter costume than that worn by the 
famous Georgia colonel, and that consisted of only a spur 
and a paper collar. After breakfast my host and myself 
armed ourselves, and, calling the dogs together, started on 
the trail of the cougar. The morning being fine, and the 
dew still on the ground, the two harriers that formed a- 
portion of the small pack had little difficulty in following 
up the trail as far as a glade in the copse, but they lost 
it there. When we emerged on this we saw fifty or sixty 
Indians engaged in collecting brushwood and decaying 
felled trees, and making a large pile of them. On ap- 
proaching them, V asked them what they were about, 

but no one answered. Thinking that they were preparing 
for a grand feast, and that they had perhaps called on his 
farm-yard for some tender chickens or turkeys, he moved 
toward the spot where their provisions were placed, and, 
after scanning them closely, saw among them a portion of 
the shote he had lost the night before. 

Forgetting for the moment all idea of what he had been 
hunting during the morning, he began to rail at the Indians 
as thieves, and to assert that it was they who had stolen 
the pigs and sheep he had lately lost, while he was blaming 
it all on cougars. The man who had given him the trousers 
for safe-keeping, on seeing him pull out the remnants of the 
pig, whose body was drained of every drop of blood, ap- 
proached him and said, " Mehali urn find ;" and pointing in 
the direction in which the squaw had found it, he led us to 
the edge of the copse to prove that he was right. When 
we reached the spot in the woods where the dogs had lost 
the trail, he pointed to a small pile of leaves and boughs, 

and, on scattering them, V found by the blood on the 

ground that the cougar had feasted on it there, and covered 
the remainder so as to keep it for another occasion. " If I 
had any strychnine in the house," said he, " I'd poison some 
fresh meat and put it in that place for the thieving brute; 
but as I have not, there is nothing left to be done except to 






THE COUGAR AND LYNXES. 119 

come here to-night with the dogs and try and tree the old 
thief when he comes after his spare grub." 

Our work being over for the time being, so far as the 
cougar was concerned, we devoted the day to deer-hunting, 
and returned in the evening with a splendid stag, which 
we killed while he was vaulting over a jam of fallen trees 
and branches seven or eight feet high. After a hearty din- 
ner of venison, washed down with native wine, and a quiet 
smoke, we again started to hunt up the disturber of the 
previous night's repose. We inarched direct to where it 
had secreted the remnants of the pig, and taking a position 
to the leeward in a dense thicket, we awaited its approach 

with intense anxiety, as V was most eager to avenge 

the loss of his faithful dog. We were concealed in shrub- 
bery which grew with such luxuriance that the sky was 
scarcely visible, but we were well supplied with pine torch- 
es and matches ; so that, should we find the object of our 
search, we could illumine its physiognomy long enough to 
enable one of us to shoot it. While discussing in a hushed 
tone how we should act under certain circumstances, our 
position was made distinct by a bright light that seemed 
to spread over a large tract of country. My companion 
thought the woods were on fire, and expressed his fear that 
it might extend toward his cabin ; but when I reminded 
him that it came from the glade his apprehensions were 
calmed, if not dispelled. We waited half an hour after that 
for some signal of the approach of the quarry ; but neither 
hearing nor seeing anything of it, we were becoming rest- 
less, when a fiery terrier started suddenly from covert and 
ran yelping to the windward. Its companions followed, 
and we followed all, and went scurrying and tumbling 
through the underbrush in our efforts to keep up with 
them. They suddenly halted, and when we approached 
they commenced barking up a tree. We lighted our torch- 
es, and swinging them in the wind to fan the flame, we es- 
pied, amidst the foliage of a sturdy oak, the gleaming green 
eyes of the cougar, and a tail that swung ominously to and 
fro in measured movement. As my companion, who was 



120 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

armed with a muzzle-loading rifle, desired to kill the ani- 
mal himself, he fired first, but missed his aim, owing to the 
smoky glare of the light and his too great anxiety. While 
he was reloading, I fired at it with the shot-gun, which con- 
tained twelve buckshots in each barrel, and, hitting it in 
the head, I brought it to the ground. The fall alone from 
that height would have killed it ; but, to be thoroughly 
sure, I let it have the second barrel right in the eyes as 
soon as it reached the earth, and that extracted whatever 
life remained in the body. My companion was highly de- 
lighted at our success, as he calculated that the death of 
the animal would be worth at least a hundred dollars a year 
to him, that being the value of the animals which he sup- 
posed he lost annually by its depredations. 

Slinging the prize across his neck, after tying its legs, he 
led the march for home; but as the fire was still burning 
fiercely on our left, he began to get nervous about it, and 
concluded to see what the Indians were doing, as they have 
a habit of setting the woods on fire and destroying not only 
valuable timber, but also endangering farm-houses. Re- 
tracing our steps, we marched toward the glade, and, on 
emerging upon it, were so thunderstruck at the scene be- 
fore us that we halted as promptly as if we had been shot, 
and gazed for several seconds in blank amazement, first at 
the bonfire, and then at each other. The scene was certain- 
ly enough to make any pale-face halt; for directly in the 
middle of the glade was a huge pile of blazing wood, and 
around this some fifty or more Indians of both sexes cir- 
cled and danced and yelled and moaned. The shouts and 
bounds of the naked, dark-hued men and women, the 
cracklings of the flames, the showers of sparks, the bright- 
ly-lighted foreground, and the lurid glare that encompassed 
the shadowy woods in the background, produced a sight 
that seemed most strange, and recalled visions of the un- 
canny creatures that are supposed to dwell in deep and 
unearthly places. Loading our guns, we marched toward 
the fire, and, on approaching it, saw on the top the dead 
body of an Indian undergoing a process of cremation. 



THE COUGAR AND LYNXES. 121 

We knew then that we were spectators of a Digger fu- 
neral ceremony, and a literal dance of death, and I certain- 
ly was glad to have had an opportunity of seeing both. 
While looking on, he of the trousers asked for the cougar, 
that he might burn it on the funeral pyre with the body, as 
he would then be sure that his kinsman had entered the 
Spirit Land as a recognized true brave. He was told that 
if he would skin it he could have the carcass, and, without 
another word, he undertook the business. While he was 
engaged in this operation, we were watching closely the 
strange spectacle before us. The young men and women 
were wailing fearfully, and jumping around the pyre with 
all their might, but the aged and infirm were content with 
walking and moaning. When the cougar was skinned the 
carcass was thrown into the flames, near the corpse, amidst 
indescribable yelling, the butcher being the most vehement 
shouter or wailer. We spent half an hour gazing on this 
weird, wild scene, then returned home; I, for one, feeling 
as if I had been a spectator of some orgie among the fabu- 
lous creatures that inhabit subterranean abodes. Two days 
after this strange ceremony the dancers passed the house, 
and their heads and features were so bedaubed with tar 
that they bore a strong resemblance to veritable imps of 
darkness. I learned subsequently that it is a custom among 
the Diggers to mix the ashes left by the funeral pyre with 
tar, and to bedaub themselves with it as a sign of mourn- 
ing ; and as they do not remove it until it falls off through 
age, they look like ogres and ogresses for six months some- 
times. This is the reason, I believe, that the Californians 
are locally called " Tar Heads," in contradistinction to the 
natives of North Carolina, who are known as " Tar Heels," 
on account of the large quantity of tar manufactured in 
the State. 

The Indian who had left his trousers for safe -keeping 

quietly walked into the house and asked Mrs. V for 

them ; but she, good woman, was so horrified at his ap- 
pearance and costume that she ran out at the back-door 
screaming. The sad-eyed mourner, thinking he had done 



122 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

something wrong, retreated rapidly, and before I knew 
what he wanted, was out on the road, and staring at the 
house in a surprised manner. When I learned what he 
desired, I seized the prolongations with the tongs and hand- 
ed them to him, and he received them with evident feelings 
of pleasure. He then asked for something to eat, and was 
furnished with a very large piece of fresh beef. Running 
a string through this, he slung it on his back and marched 
proudly away, though to me he presented a most ludicrous 
aspect; for his nether dirty-white garments were much too 
short for him, and were entirely devoid of the portion on 
which a person usually sits; his body was perfectly naked, 
but his head was covered with a battered and crownless 
"stove-pipe" hat, so that he looked like a "harmony" in 
black, dusky, and dirty-white. 

As a curious coincidence, the next time that I was suc- 
cessful in bagging a cougar, I was also a spectator of an 
Indian funeral service, but it was the opposite of the pre- 
vious one in character. During a visit that I made to the 
Snoqualmie Falls, in Washington Territory, I called at an 
Indian reservation which was under the charge of a self- 
denying missionary, who had devoted his life to the physical 
and spiritual welfare of the red man. While I was there a 
child belonging to one of the best young men in the tribe 
died, and the priest was sent for to bury her. I accompa- 
nied him to the little hamlet where a portion of the tribe 
dwelt, and as soon as we landed from the canoe, all its 
members marched to the shore, and each in turn touched 
the priest's hand as a sign of welcome, but no one spoke. 
When the greeting was over, the men and women assem- 
bled in a log-cabin, and squatted themselves on their heels 
around the coffin, or rather box, which was covered with 
white cloth. After prayers, and the sprinkling of the bier, 
all formed in procession, the head men being in advance, 
and the)' were followed by the young braves and squaws. 
The pall-bearers consisted of two relatives of the deceased, 
and they were preceded by a lad who rung a weird-sound- 
ing bell in measured time every few moments. When the 



THE COUGAR AND LYNXES. 123 

procession advanced toward the grave, which was dug 
amidst the matted undergrowth of the forest, all com- 
menced intoning a hymn in their native tongue, and that 
to me was the most pleasing, or, rather, the most pictu- 
resque, I had ever heard, as the weak and senile voice of 
the aged was contrasted with the deep bass of the young 
men and the clear tones of the squaws. When the grave 
was reached another prayer was uttered, another sad hymn 
for the repose of the soul of the deceased was sung, and 
the rude casket was placed in the earth amidst the drip- 
ping shrubbery. When the last sod was thrown on, the 
procession reformed and marched back to the hamlet, wail- 
ing the tribal song of death in prayerful words. The con- 
trast between the solemn funeral ceremony of this Chris- 
tian tribe and the barbarous Diggers made a marked im- 
pression on me, and caused me to remember the cougar- 
hunt of the two occasions in the most vivid manner. 

After leaving the reservation, I engaged a canoe and two 
Indians to take me to the Falls ; and as the trip was to oc- 
cupy several days, I placed a store of provisions and arms 
aboard, in order to be prepared for all emergencies. We 
had to work hard during the day to pass over brawling 
cascades and to stem strong currents ; hence, when night 
came, we were glad to go ashore and camp under the shel- 
ter of a gigantic spruce or fir. While I was soundly sleep- 
ing one night, an Indian jumped up suddenly, awoke me, 
and called my attention to an animal that was stealthily ad- 
vancing toward us. Its movements were light and cat-like; 
and recognizing at once what it was, I seized the loaded 
rifle which laid beside me, and fired when I caught it in a 
position where the glare of the camp-fire fell full upon it. 
Not being more than thirty or forty feet away, I hit it in 
the shoulder, and the ball went crashing through it from 
side to side. One of the Indians then fired at it with a re- 
volver, and he also succeeded in hitting it, the ball entering 
the skull. When we approached it the last gasp of life was 
leaving the body — a fact of which we were very glad, as I 
did not care to have any more shots in its coating than was 



124 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

necessary, for fear of spoiling it. We found it to be a two- 
year- old, in splendid condition, and unusually fat for its 
family in the wild state. It had, no doubt, been attracted 
to our camp by the savory smell of bacon, which the In- 
dian cook had left uncovered in a pan near the fire ; and 
though this was contrary to rule, yet I did not blame him 
when I saw what it had brought me. 

During one of my short trips in the Cascade Range, I 
was accompanied by a stock -raiser, his two sturdy sons, 
and two Indians, who were civilized, in the sense that they 
lived in cabins, cultivated a few acres of land, had some 
cows and horses, and professed to be Christians. 

We were out in search of big-horns, and took the red 
men with us, because they knew the mountains well and 
had killed several sheep in their time. We encamped the 
first night near a lovely tarn that was buried in a small, 
deep valley, which was gay with wild -flowers and green 
with generous grasses. Towering basaltic crags arose on 
one side, like huge sentinels intended to guard the vale, 
and on the other a coppice, composed of several varieties 
of trees, from pine to mountain maple, grew in wild luxuri- 
ance. The Indians objected strongly to selecting this beau- 
tiful spot for a camp, and on asking them their reason 
therefor they refused to tell, but they would not remain 
there, they said, for any consideration ; and as we would 
not leave, they picked up their traps and departed for 
some other quarters. They rejoined us the next day, how- 
ever, and hunted as assiduously as any of ourselves. On 
starting out, we went in pairs, and moved in opposite di- 
rections, so as to be able to head off any animals fleeing 
from one side of the valley or mountain to another, and, if 
necessary, to make a surround. My companion, who was 
the senior pale-face of the party, was accompanied by three 
large dogs used for hunting cattle and wild game, and they 
seemed to be equally expert in all. Moving toward the 
coppice, in order to work up the valley in the direction of 
the bluffs, we were soon beating the undergrowth to see if 
we could find game of any kind there. After quartering 



THE COUGAR AXD LYNXES. 125 

it for half an hour, the clogs, which were running wildly 
about in every direction, gave a loud yelp some distance 
ahead of us, and kept up the canine music for ten minutes, 
when it suddenly ceased. We hastened onward, and in 
about twenty minutes reached a narrow stream, and there 
found the dogs beating up and down in search of the quar- 
ry, but they made no effort to enter the water. Presum- 
ing from their actions that the game, whatever it was, had 
crossed the river, we waded through it to the opposite side, 
and the dogs, after a little work there, found the trail 
again, and declared it in the most vehement manner with 
their voices. We followed them up promptly for a quarter 
of a mile, and overtook them as they were grouped around 
a tree and barking violently. Peering through the foliage 
of the fir, we saw a large cougar perched on a low branch, 
its green eyes, like an emerald furnace, glowing with rage, 
and its tail swinging like a pendulum from side to side. 
We could hear its deep purring audibly, and inferred from 
this that it had little fear of its canine foes. It seemed to 
pay little heed to us, but concentrated all its attention and 
rage on the boisterous dogs, which disturbed its repose by 
their cries. As my companion feared that some of the lat- 
ter might be injured if the animal was not shot dead, he 
asked me to fire at the same time that he did ; so we both 
blazed away together, and the cougar came tumbling down 
amidst a shower of leaves and branchlets. When it reach- 
ed the ground the dogs attacked it vigorously ; but as its 
hip was only broken, it made a fierce fight, and placed one 
of its assailants on the peace list by tearing a large slice of 
flesh from the neck and shoulders with one sweep of its 
lance -like claws. This catastrophe caused the others to 
fight shy, and to jump at it only when it attempted to rise ; 
and these tactics kept its attention so constantly engaged 
that it seemed to forget our presence completely. This 
proved anything but fortunate, for my companion, think- 
ing he could finish it without any trouble, rushed in to 
place his revolver near its head ; but before he could pull 
the trigger the animal turned on him suddenly, and raked 



126 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

his leg from hip to knee so severely with its paw that the | 
flesh seemed to have been cut with a knife. 

The man was so amazed at the suddenness of the on- 
slaught that he did not move for a few moments ; and 
were it not that the dogs attacked the brute boldly, and 
thus diverted its attention, he would have received a sec- 
ond wound, in all probability, before getting out of its 
reach. When he did move away it was in a hurry, and, 
seizing his rifle, he rushed in among the dogs, and placing 
its muzzle within two feet of the cougar's head, fired, and 
fairly blew the top of the skull off. When the animal was 
dead he began kicking it, and, having satisfied his ven- 
geance, he turned to his wound, and with my aid bound it 
up. The injury, though painful, was not very serious, as 
no vein or artery had been severed ; so he was able to walk 
back to camp, and even to help me in carrying the trophy 
at intervals. This accident caused a suspension of our 
hunting operations ; and for fear it might prove to be more 
serious than it looked, we left the valley that afternoon and 
marched toward home. We reached a splendid camping- 
ground early in the evening, and there pitched our tent, as 
water and grass for our horses were to be found in abun- 
dance. While discussing the incidents of our trip over 
the post-prandial pipe, we asked the Indians, who were en- 
camped close by us, why they would not remain near the 
lake the first night; and one of them, after much pressing, 
said it was because the valley was haunted. When asked 
to tell how, he said that a squaw who had been badly treat- 
ed by her husband resolved on suicide, and one evening, 
when her tribe l'eached this valley and pitched their wig- 
wams near the lake, she suddenly rushed forth from her 
tepee, and, plunging into the crystalline water, sunk to thd 
bottom before any person could make an effort to save her. 
Her spirit was supposed to haunt the vale ever since, as 
several warriors had seen her frequently bound into the 
lake at sunset and disappear in a pyramid of foam. She 
had also, it is said, been heard chanting a mournful song, 
whose theme was the cruelty of her husband and her own 



THE COUGAR AND LYNXES. 127 

sad fate. This tale had made the tarn famous among sev- 
eral tribes, to whom it was known as the Lake of the 
Squaw's Leap; and so implicitly did they believe in its 
truth that they could not be induced to camp in the valley 
on any account, or even to speak of the incident except 
with bated breath ; for it is an article of faith anions the 
red men that every time a dead person's name is mention- 
ed he or she turns over in the grave, and punishes severely 
those who are guilty of such a sacrilegious act as to dis- 
turb the repose of the departed. 

I asked the Indians if they ever had any personal en- 
counters with a cougar, and they replied they had not, but 
that an acquaintance of theirs was attacked without any 
cause by one while he was searching in the woods for some 
strayed horses. The animal jumped at his throat and 
knocked him down ; but as he was armed with a loaded 
single -barrelled shot-gun, he sent its contents into the 
brute's stomach, and this caused it to loosen its hold. 
Struggling to his feet, he attempted to run away; but, 
wounded severely as the cougar was, it leaped upon him 
once more, and another fierce struggle ensued, the Indian 
using his gun against the claws and fangs of his foe. Af- 
ter a desperate battle, in which the gun was destroyed, the 
red man came off victorious, but he was so badly Avound- 
ed that his life was despaired of for several weeks. His 
strong constitution prevailed at length, however, and he re- 
covered, but he was a mere wreck of what he had formerly 
been. In answer to another query, the most experienced 
replied that the cougar never chased its prey, but jumped 
on it from the concealment of a thicket or the bough of a 
tree, and he doubted if it could follow any animal by scent — 
a statement which I am rather inclined to believe, notwith- 
standing the assertions of some writers who say that it has 
trailed them as a hound would a hare or a fox. I heard 
of other incidents in the West which prove that the animal 
is very dangerous when hungry or wounded; but if it will 
attack man without any seemingly direct provocation, it is 
an easy matter to understand the motive therefor. 



128 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

It is naturally so timid and cautious, and so far from 
large settlements, that it is only met by accident, unless a 
person enters the deep recesses of the forest; but in severe 
winters it leaves its concealment and makes bold raids on 
the sheep, pigs, calves, foals, and even the dogs of the farm. 
It is very destructive on such occasions, as it kills a great 
many more animals than it can eat, and frequently leaves 
the carcasses on the ground after it has extracted all the 
blood through the orifice which it cuts in the neck. It 
kills, in fact, for the sake of killing, even when gorged with 
food ; and this propensity causes it to be thoroughly hated 
and feared by the settlers. Sheep-raisers who take their 
flocks to the mountains during the summer wage war to 
the knife upon it with rifle and strychnine; and the result 
is that it is disappearing as fast as the grizzly bear in some 
sections of the country. 

During one of my rambles along the coast region in 
Washington Territory, I had an excellent opportunity of 
seeing how destructive it was to the farm, what great 
strength it possessed ; and I also had the pleasure of kill- 
ing one which had proved a perfect Thug to the denizens 
of the farm. While stopping at a lonely cabin that was 
buried in the forest, some seven or eight miles from any 
other dwelling, a cougar was so frequent a visitor to the 
sheep-pen that it killed eight lambs and four ewes in less 
than a fortnight. Their owner, becoming enraged, at length 
concluded to start out in quest of it, intending, if he could 
not kill it, to drive it some distance away at least by chas- 
ing it with dogs, or send it to visit some other neighbor 
whose hospitality it had not experienced. With these pur- 
poses in view, we armed ourselves one day, and taking four 
dogs with us which were taught to run mute when held in 
leash, we commenced scouring the woods, taking our course 
direct from the enclosure in which the pigs and sheep Avere 
usually kept at night during the winter. The dogs had 
scarcely entered the forest before they got on the trail of 
a thief that had been dining off young mutton the previous 
night, and following this up as rapidly as we could, we 



THE COUGAR AND LYNXES. 129 

were soon forcing our way through dense shrubbery or 
scurrying over open ground. The dogs worked the trail 
admirably, and without giving a single whimper, for a mile 
or more, but they lost it at the base of a rocky chasm ; nor 
could they carry it any farther, although they were harked 
back two or three times, and several casts were made in 
various directions. This induced me to look around me; 
and at the first glance I noticed that a huge flat bowlder, 
some ten or fifteen feet iu height, rose abruptly upward 
from the ground where the scent had vanished, and I de- 
duced from this immediately that the cougar had travelled 
as far as this, and closed its trail by bounding on the crag 
and seeking safety in the woods above. Presuming that 
it would be impossible for it to leap up there with a lamb 
in its mouth, we commenced searching around to see if we 
could find the remains buried anywhere; but after half 
an hour's diligent work we relinquished our effort, and de- 
cided that it must have performed that feat, else the lamb 
would have been carefully stowed away under leaves, 
branches, or dirt, somewhere in the vicinity of the rock. 

We next commenced a search for footsteps among the 
terraces forming the upper portion of the chasm, and there 
found the slots of a cougar; but as they differed in size 
within a short distance of each other, we concluded that 
there were two of the same family in the neighborhood, 
probably two males, or they would have kept together, and 
that one of them used the canyon for its favorite line of 
retreat, while the other preferred the forest. We therefore 
decided to lie in wait for the former near its vaulting-place, 
and to attract it there by placing some fresh meat on the 
route it usually took on its foraging expeditions. Having 
formed our plans, we returned to the house and prepared 
two large pieces of venison for a bait, taking good care to 
wash them thoroughly, so as to take away the smell of the 
hands. We carried them to the trysting-place after sup- 
per, by running a piece of twine through them, and placed 
one several feet away from the top of the precipice, and 
the other near the base of the bowlder. We then sat down 

6* 



130 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 






for a quiet and hushed chat, and kept it up until eight 
o'clock, when Ave separated, my companion going toward 
the summit of the chasm, while I kept at the base and to 
the leeward of the usual leaping-place. 

We waited there patiently until after ten o'clock, but 
no cougar appeared, and the only noises that disturbed 
the brooding stillness of the night were the occasional 
hoot of the ghostly owl, the plaintive call of the whippoor- 
will, the croaking of frogs, and the whirring of the tree- 
locust. Fire-flies were very numerous, and their transi- 
tory gleaming proved a welcome sight, as it illumined 
somewhat the inky darkness that reigned in the chasm. 
The lonely hours flowed on with slow paces to me, until 
the vigil began to grow from being monotonous to being 
exceedingly tedious. I was about despairing of meeting 
any cougar that night, when a sharp, fierce scream rung 
out in the precipice a short distance below me, and the 
rocks and trees taking this up, caused it to reverberate 
in stentorian tones for several seconds. It was so sudden 
and unexpected that it startled me violently; but when 
my first surprise w\as over I prepared for emergencies by 
noiselessly cocking my repeating rifle, and placing my 
knife more in front, so as to have it ready should it be 
necessary to use it. I then peered intently into the Cim- 
merian darkness in quest of the animal, but I could see 
nothing. I next extended myself flat on the ground and 
looked skyward at an oblique angle; but nothing met 
the vision except precipitous walls and masses of black 
clouds that were scurrying to the leeward before a stiff 
breeze, though in my cavernous retreat I could not feel a 
breath of it. After gazing for a few moments with such 
intensity as to strain my eyes and to make the eyelids 
somewhat sore, I noticed an animal emerge suddenly from 
some low shrubbery and come toward me with long, noise- 
less bounds. Thinking I was the object of an assault, I 
jumped to my feet promptly; and when the cougar, for 
such it was, passed by me within a distance of three or 
four yards, I fired at it almost without taking aim, and 



THE COUGAR AXl> LYNXES. 131 

mingled with the report was the sharp yell of an angry, 
wounded cat. This was a pleasant but a dangerous pre- 
dicament for me; and not caring for an encounter, I leap- 
ed back to the shelter of a rock and fired once more at 
the limping animal. There was no feline response to this 
detonation, so I moved forward to see what was the result 
of my fire. Before I had advanced a few feet I saw the 
cougar making vain efforts to leap up on the bowlder, and 
the moment I saw that I concluded it was my prisoner. 
Taking aim as carefully as I could in the darkness, I fired 
four shots in rapid succession, and, when the smoke cleared 
away, no cougar was visible. Not knowing whether it 
was dead or had escaped, I moved forward cautiously, 
with rifle cocked and ready for instant use, and when I 
reached the base of the crag I saw it extended at full 
length on its side. Lighting a match, I examined it cur- 
sorily, and found it was dead. Leaving it where it was, 
I clambered up the chasm to meet my companion and 
announce to him my good fortune, but he was nowhere 
visible. I began to call his name, but no response came. 
Wondering what could have become of him, I commenced 
groping about, thinking that he might have met with an 
accident; but after trudging up and down the terraces 
for half an hour I could find no trace of him. I then be- 
came really alarmed, and advanced to where the bait was 
placed, but that was gone. I divined from this that some 
animal had stolen it, and that he had started in pursuit of 
the thief; and this reassured me, as he was too good a 
backwoodsman to get lost, and too experienced a hunter 
to risk his life unnecessarily. After waiting half an hour, 
and shouting at intervals, I concluded that he was watch- 
ing the object of his pursuit, and did not wish to answer 
my call for fear of spoiling his chances at bagging it. 
Another half-hour, and still no tidings of him, induced me 
to make an effort to find him ; and as the moon then ap- 
peared from beneath a mass of clouds, I decided to track 
him if possible. When Luna's face was thoroughly clear, 
I bent low to the ground, and readily detected his foot- 



132 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE EAR WEST. 






steps on the grass and leaves, and by their length apart I 
knew he was running. As cats in flight generally keep 
a direct course, I concluded to follow a straight line; so 
I tore through the forest at a headlong pace, and called 
every now and then. When I had proceeded a mile or 
more I heard a weak cry, and, advancing toward it, found 
my friend lying in some brier-bushes, face upward, and a 
dead cougar not ten feet from him. Lifting him up, I 
asked what ailed him, and in feeble tones he told me that 
the animal had attacked and wounded him severely, if not 
fatally. 

When placed on his feet, he found he could walk ; so, 
with my aid, he tottered slowly home, but he was so weak 
that he could not carry his gun. After walking a seem- 
ingly interminable distance, we reached his house, and on 
looking at him by the light of the lamp he presented so 
ghastly an appearance that his wife screamed with fright. 
One side of his face was cut as cleanly and deeply as if 
it were done with a knife; his chest and left arm were 
torn sadly, and he had a heavy scar on the right thigh. 
After dressing his wounds, he was put to bed, and the 
next morning he was strong enough to be able to tell 
how he met with his accident. According to his state- 
ment, it was, that when he heard the scream of the cougar 
in the chasm he directed all his attention that way, think- 
ing that if the animal passed me he could get a shot at 
it, or, if I needed assistance, that he would come to my aid. 

When I ceased firing he was about to descend to see 
what luck I had ; but, before doing so, he took a glance 
in the direction of his bait, and saw an animal running 
away with it. He followed in hot pursuit, and, on seeing 
it enter a clump of hazel -bushes, fired, without consider- 
ing for a moment his chances of being successful in hit- 
ting it. He aimed better than could be expected under 
the circumstances, and struck it in the ribs; but the 
wound was only severe enough to make it angry, so it 
turned upon him at once. He delivered his second barrel 
hurriedly as it approached him ; but he supposed he miss- 



THE COUGAR AND LYNXES. 133 

ed it, as it leaped upon him with as much vigor as if it 
had never been touched. He attempted to flee, but the 
brier-bushes tripped him up, and he fell flat on his face. 
He turned over promptly, however, and drew his knife, 
but the cougar was then upon him, and the struggle com- 
menced. He used his knife blindly, striking wherever he 
could ; but his aim was uncertain, owing to the hot breath 
of his foe, and its biting and clawing. He kept at the 
throat whenever he could get the opportunity, and was 
finally successful in causing the fierce brute to leave, in 
order to get breath ; but it had gone only a few paces 
before it fell dead from loss of blood. He was so weak 
from the contest when it was over that he did not even 
have strength enough to crawl out of the briers, and he 
would probably have died there had he not received as- 
sistance. 

The strength of the animal was so great, according to 
his assertion, that it used to turn him over on his side 
when it seized him by the arm and attempted to drag 
him away; but, owing to the matted mass of briers, it 
could not move him sideways, and it made no effort at 
any time to lift him up bodily and bear him away as 
cats generally do. But for the briers he thought he would 
have been killed under any circumstances; for when the 
animal pounced on his throat at one time, and its fierce 
breath almost suffocated him, it was compelled to let go 
its hold immediately, as one of the thorny stalks, which 
extended across his face, got into its mouth and pricked 
it so severely that it had to lift its head several times to 
get it out; for it stretched across the lower jaws, and was 
held there by having one of the cougar's own legs resting 
on one of the ground-ends. While the animal was trying 
to relieve itself of this disagreeable bit, the hunter used 
his knife on its throat to such good advantage that he 
forced it to retreat a few seconds later; and it was this 
fortunate accident that, undoubtedly, enabled him to kill 
his assailant and save his own life. It was a narrow 
scratch, however, which would have to yield first; and 



134 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



' 



were it not for the brier-bush the hunter would, in all 
probability, have had to succumb, and be made into cat's 
meat inside of twenty-four hours. 

I went after the slain animals the next day and brought 
them to the house, with the aid of a boy, by tying them 
on a drag made of the bough of a tree. On looking at 
them, I found that the one I had killed was a four-year- 
old male; but the assailant which had done so much dam- 
age to the person of the pioneer was a full-grown female 
that boasted exceedingly large and dense claws, and long, 
sharp fangs. Her face, throat, and abdomen were freely 
sprinkled with knife-thrusts, and her handsome hide was 
covered with blood from nose to flank. After being skin- 
ned, the remains were thrown to the pigs, and they went 
to feasting on the carcasses of animals which had often 
made a feast off one of their company. When I left the 
cabin its owner was on the high-road to recovery; but 
when I saw him a year later he presented a disagreeable 
sight, his face being as scarred as that of a Border Ruffian. 

The cougar is, as must be apparent, no mean foe in a 
close struggle ; so persons who do not care to spoil their 
handsome features would do well not to go too near it 
before its spirit has been expelled by the power of a 
heavy bullet. It may, for all that, be hunted for years 
before a man is attacked by it; but such good fortune is 
due more to accident than any amiability on the part of 
the quarry. 

There are several other members of the feline race to 
be found in the West and South-west, but they are not so 
large, the jaguar excepted, as the celebrated "painter" of 
the pioneers. Those indigenous to the South-west, such as 
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and adjacent regions, are the 
jaguar, or Mexican tiger ; the ocelot, or tiger-cat (F. para- 
de lis) ; the eyra and yaguarundi ; and a variety of the bay 
lynx, known scientifically as the F. macalatus. The Cana- 
dian and the bay lynx are denizens of the more northern 
regions ; yet they are found far to the south on the Pacific 
Coast, much farther than on the Atlantic. 



THE COUGAB AND LYNXES. 135 

The lynxes, which are quite common in the region be- 
yond the Rocky Mountains, may be readily known from 
the true cats by their physiognomy and anatomical con- 
struction. In the first place, they have only twenty-eight 
teeth, while the others have thirty; their skull is broader 
in proportion to size ; the forehead is higher, and more 
arched ; the skull is more capacious ; the muzzle is broad- 
er; and the lower jaw is thicker, and more massive. They 
also have short, thick, and stubby tails ; their feet are 
heavily furred ; and they move along with short, straight 
bounds. The three recognized species in the Far West 
are the Canada lynx (X. canadensis), the bay lynx or red 
cat (X. rufus), and the L. fasciatus, which closely resem- 
bles the latter in everything except the color of \\\z pelage. 
The former, which is the largest and heaviest of its genus, 
is a timid animal, and readily flees from the presence of 
man. It has large paws, slender loins, long, thick hind-legs, 
and a short, thick tail, which gives it an awkward if not 
clumsy appearance. The head and face are not unlike that 
of the domestic cat ; the ears are erect, and tipped by an 
upright, slender tuft of black hairs ; the legs are thick ; 
and the toes are thick and furry, and armed with very 
sharp, curved, and awl -shaped claws, which are shorter 
than the fur. On the body and extremities the fur is 
hoary, most of the hairs being tipped with white; but on 
the middle of the back, on the crown of the head, and on 
the sides and legs, it is a pale wood-brown ; and the tail is 
of the same color, except that it is tipped with black. The 
fur is close and fine on the back, but it is longer and paler 
beneath than above. The ordinary length of an adult is 
about thirty-eight inches, the height about seventeen inch- 
es, the tuft on the ears one and a half inches, and the tail, 
inclusive, about four and a half inches. Its color changes 
according to the seasons, so that one may be deceived in 
its appearance if he goes by hue alone. 

If aroused by anger it spits like a domestic cat, and 
sets its hair up like a hyena. Its gait is by bounds, and 
with its back somewhat arched, and, when it alights, it 



136 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

comes down on all-fours at once. It is not swift, and any 
ordinary dog can overtake it in a short time. It swims 
well when forced to take to the water, but it avoids that 
element if possible, as it has all the objections of its race 
to a wetting. Its flesh, although white and tender, is fla- 
vorless, yet it is highly prized by some of the North-west- 
ern tribes, and not a few pretend to think it superior to 
hare. Some of the French voyageurs and half-breeds call 
it the loup cervier; but why they do so I could never sur- 
mise, as it does not resemble the wolf either in looks, hab- 
its, or tones of voice. Neither is it dangerous to anything 
larger than a bird or a small quadruped; so all the tales 
told about its attacking men and killing them must be 
considered as approaching the fabulous. In the first place, 
one good blow on its back with a walking-stick would kill 
it immediately, and a rifle-ball or a dose of buck-shot is suf- 
ficient to send the spirit of the strongest to the feline world 
beyond this at once. Large numbers are shot or trapped 
annually for the sake of their skins, which command a fair 
price in the fur market; but they are not utilized as ob- 
jects of the chase to any extent, as their first move is to 
seek safety in a tree, whence they are easily dislodged with 
a rifle or a bow and arrow. 

A wounded catamount may sometimes turn on a man, 
but it cannot inflict much greater injury than giving him 
a severe scratching, and few experienced hunters care for 
such trifles. I have shot it occasionally after treeing it 
with clogs, but I never knew it to assault me, nor to make 
even a fierce fight against its canine foes; hence it offers 
but little sport; yet a person who bags his twenty-pound 
cat after a scramble through brake and brier feels not a 
little pleased with himself. Its congeners, theX. rufits and 
L. fasclatus, which resemble it in habit and character, are 
very common in the forests of the North-west, and commit 
sad havoc among the grouse, hares, squirrels, and other 
small animals on which they prey. 

The latter is readily distinguished from the former by 
its rich chestnut color and soft, full fur, the other having a 



THE COUGAR AND LYNXES. 13' 



reddish hue, and a shorter and coarser fur. With this ex- 
ception, both look remarkably alike — so much so, in fact, 
that an amateur naturalist would consider them to be the 
same species, and would attribute their different hue of 
coating to age, habitat, or the season of the year. An 
adult frequently attains a length of thirty-four inches, ex- 
clusive of the tail, which is about seven inches, and a 
height at the fore-shoulder of sixteen inches. Both varie- 
ties or species inhabit the same character of country, being 
generally found in the wooded borders of plains or valleys. 
If captured young, they soon learn to know the person who 
feeds them, and become somewhat attached to him ; but 
they are such inveterate thieves, and so destructive to poul- 
try, that they can only be kept in strong cages from which 
there is no possibility of escape, else they would soon prove 
most costly pets. 

They resent the friendly advances of all strangers by 
humping up their back, depressing their ears, showing 
their teeth, and spitting fiercely, and should one approach 
too closely, they would even fly at him. As they make 
raids on the farm-yard occasionally, the farmers resort to 
poison to get rid of them, and not a few fall victims to the 
rifle or shot-gun. I killed four in one month in Washing- 
ton Territory with the aid of dogs, and I never experienced 
any trouble from them- — -probably for the very excellent 
reason that I did not place myself in their way until they 
were rendered harmless. Cat-hunts are very popular with 
some persons, and especially those who have good dogs, as 
there is generally a fight and its accompanying wounds; 
but the result is in nearly all cases detrimental to the physi- 
cal welfare of the bob-tailed feline. I can enjoy one on a 
moonlight night when I am with a jolly party and accom- 
panied by a good pack, as it is full of quiet excitement, and 
frequently of ludicrous incidents ; but it cannot, in my esti- 
mation, equal a bear or cougar hunt, and it cannot approach 
the bounding sensations produced by a dash after the fleet- 
footed stag when he is going at a view halloo pace. 



138 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FA R WEST. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE GRAY WOLF. 

The Gray Wolf. — Number of Species of Wolves. — Difference in Colors. — 
The Size of the largest Variety. — Its Courage. — Captures of small Dogs 
from the Indians.— A Pack kills Two of our Dogs. — Retaliation. — In- 
dians eat the Wolf. — Sagacity of the Animal in Hunting. — How a Pack 
drives Deer. — Stratagems resorted to. — Satellites of Herds of Buffaloes 
and Antelopes. — What Wolves live on. — Useful Scavengers. — Their 
harmless character to Man. — Famishing Wolves attack an Indian. — 
Result. — Afraid of a Child. — Yelps when wounded. — Their Size and 
Character when Food is plentiful. — How they are killed. — " Wolfers," 
and their Mode of Work. — Their General Character. — Sudden Wealth 
and Poverty.— A Lucky "Wolfer." — A Hunt with a " Wolfer." — His 
peculiar Breed of Dogs. — Their Speed and Stubbornness. — Six Cubs 
captured, and Two Wolves killed.— Pursuit of a Coyote. — Affection of 
a Mother for her Young. — How Wolves run when pursued. — Different 
Breeds of Dogs fit for Wolf-hunting. — How it is hunted in Portions of 
the West. — A spirited Wolf-chase. — How Wolves act when Trapped. — 
The Future of Wolf-hunting in the West. 

Wolves are unusually numerous throughout the whole 
of North-western America; and they seem to be equally at 
home on the prairie or in the forest, on the mountains or on 
the treeless plateaus, where shelter is often so scarce that 
they are compelled to form burrows for themselves under 
banks, or content themselves with a lair amidst crags. 

There are, in reality, only two species in the country, the 
gray, timber, or prairie wolf {Canis lupus var qccidentalis), 
and the coyote or prairie wolf {Canis latrans), but there 
are others which are classified as varieties on account of 
their distinctions in color. The difference in hue seems to 
be the result of climate and habitat, yet I have seen cubs of 
various hues in one litter. This might be the result of the 
association of differently marked animals; but in some in- 
stances this could not be the case, as only one variety fre- 
quented the country in which they were found. 



THE GRAY WOLF. 



139 



There are five marked colors among them in the North- 
west, and they are called from these the gray, white, pied, 
dusky, and black wolves; and to these may be added the 
red variety, which is indigenous to some southern regions. 
The white is the most northern in its habitat; south of this 
comes the gray and pied ; while the dusky and sooty black 
are found largely in Southern Oregon, Northern California, 
portions of Washington Territory, and scattered through- 
out the whole area west of the Rocky Mountains. I have 







GRAY WOLVES. 



seen the latter principally in trappean countries, as if nat- 
ure intended their color to harmonize with their surround- 
ings, the better to enable them to secure food and escape 
enemies. 

The American wolf differs in several points from its 
European congener; indeed, it resembles an Esquimau 
dog more than it does the latter. The main differences 
are that it has shorter ears, a broader forehead, a thicker 
muzzle, shorter legs, broader feet, and a finer fur, and 



140 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

denser and bushier hair behind the cheeks. The largest of 
the family is from thirty-four to thirty-six inches in height; 
is about four feet long; and weighs from ninety to one 
hundred and twenty pounds, and even more where food is 
abundant. The tail is carried straight, except when the 
animal is frightened; and then it crams it between the 
legs, like a terror-stricken cur, and carries it in that posi- 
tion for some distance if hotly pursued. 

Large, gaunt, and fierce as it looks, it is one of the great- 
est cowards known, even when assembled in numbers, and 
seldom has the courage to face even a boy. When assailed 
by dogs it manifests a stronger desire to flee than to fight 
gallantly for life, and to show its teeth rather than use 
them. A couple of staunch hounds will cause one to scam- 
per off in a tremendous hurry; and should they overtake 
and assail it, the probability would be that it would only 
snail at them and try to escape, instead of closing and kill- 
ing them at once, as it could readily do, owing to its weight, 
great strength, and long fangs. When it does bite, how- 
ever, it inflicts a very severe wound, as its lancet-like teeth 
can cut clean through the leg of a dog; hence, hounds 
devoid of courage do not care to attack it after they 
have once felt its power, unless they are in sufficient num- 
bers to make an assault successful. It does not show any 
fear of a single dog, unless it be a very large one, and 
does not hesitate a moment to gobble up an Indian cur 
and devour it in sight of its yelping, impotent kindred. I 
have known tribes to lose several dogs by these lupine 
prowlers, and they sometimes had the audacity to make a 
raid on the encampment for them and boldly bear them 
away to safe quarters, where they could eat them at their 
leisure. 

While out on a hunting expedition along the Loup Riv- 
er, the wolves pounced on a valuable pointer and terrier 
belonging to our party, as they were on their way to visit 
some of their kindred in an Indian village, and actually de- 
voured them in sight of our camp. We had so little fear 
of the scavengers assailing our dogs, when they crowded 



THE GRAY WOLF. 141 

around the camp at night to the number of two or three 
hundred apparently, and their glittering eyes peered at us 
out of the darkness, that we did not molest them unless 
they threatened our edibles ; but after that incident Ave 
kept them at a safe distance, and showed them no quarter 
wherever we met them. Though willing enough to scam- 
per away before a small pack of hounds, a party of them 
treat a single dog, even of large size, with contemptuous 
indifference. I remember hearing a hunter telling me that 
he owned an immense dog, whose greatest pleasure was to 
fight with every one of his own species he met; and this 
propensity of his got him into many scrapes with their 
owners, for he was always the conqueror in a few mo- 
ments. As he had never been defeated, he had such an 
overweening confidence in himself that he was ready to 
meet all foes ; but the wolves taught him that he could not 
triumph over them as he had done over his civilized con- 
geners. Felix, the canine hero, saw three wolves one day 
on a hillock ; and thinking they afforded him an excellent 
opportunity for indulging in a victorious contest, advanced 
toward them with hairs bristled up like the quills of a poi-- 
cupine ; and they, on seeing his combative attitude, trotted 
away. This retrograde movement so encouraged him that 
he dashed after them at full speed, and whining with ex- 
citement ; but when he was next seen he was retreating as 
rapidly as his legs could carry him, his tail was tucked be- 
tween his legs, and he was ki-yi-ing fearfully, while the 
three wolves were ranged behind him, and giving him a 
good solid nip in the flanks every few moments, just to 
hear how nicely he could sing and see how fast he could 
run. His owner, seeing his plight, ran out to meet him, 
and drove his pursuers away; and this kindness Felix ap- 
preciated very highly, for he extended his tail and wagged 
it in the liveliest manner. That whipping made him a 
member of the canine peace society for the remainder of 
his life, for he was never afterward known to fight, or 
threaten to fight, any of his own species ; and this saved 
his owner much unnecessary trouble. 



142 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

The Indians who have lost their curs secure revenge by 
killing their destroyers, as they consider that one wolf is 
as good as four or five dogs ; for not only is its skin val- 
uable in trade, but its flesh is deemed to be palatable, and 
to be equal to that of the dog at least in gastronomic 
qualities. 

When wolves hunt a large animal in packs they do not 
run together, in many cases, but secure positions on the 
routes which the quarry is supposed to take, and bound on 
it from cover. Their first movement is to hamstring it, 
and when that is done they have little difficulty in finish- 
ing it. It is no uncommon thing to meet old buffalo bulls 
in the spring, when they are weak and shedding their coat, 
with pieces of flesh actually torn out of their hams, the 
work of wolves ; but in the autumn and winter these 
wounds are not so readily apparent, owing to the length of 
the hair. I have heard persons say that wolves give tongue 
when on the trail of a deer or other animal, but I cannot 
verify this from actual observation ; for though I have 
seen them pursue several large quadrupeds, from the ante- 
lope to the elk, I do not remember hearing a whimper out 
of them while running, although they were noisy enough 
while waiting for something in the form of food to turn up. 

When a strong pack chases an animal, it generally re- 
sults in the death of the quarry, for wolves have speed, 
nose, strength, patience, and perseverance; and when a 
capture is made, it is very often the cause of a nice quar- 
rel about a division of the spoils, and one in which ten 
or fifteen are frequently engaged at the same time. Their 
love of fighting is not very great, however, and they are 
glad to quit it for a mouthful of meat at the earliest oppor- 
tunity. 

It is amusing to see them try to capture an antelope or a 
buffalo, and the wiles to which they resort to obtain every 
advantage. One group may stand in front of the creature 
to attract its attention, while another steals around to the 
rear and attempts to cut the tendon by a sudden bound. 
If foiled in this, they break away promptly to avoid a 



> 






THE GRAY WOLF. 143 

thrust of the horns, while the others rush in ; and by these 
cunning assaults they frequently obtain a feast in a short 
time. 

When the quarry is disabled, they tear it to death, as it 
were. I have known them to eat a good-sized buck inside 
of ten minutes after its capture. They are constant attend- 
ants upon the herds of antelopes and buffaloes that exist 
on the plains of the West, and follow the latter in their mi- 
grations as far as the wintry regions of British America. 
When large game becomes scarce they manage to eke out 
an existence by preying on prairie-dogs, hares, ground- 
squirrels, badgers, foxes, and other animals, and such ref- 
use as they may find in deserted camps and Indian vil- 
lages. If farm-houses are convenient, they display their 
affection for the inmates of the farm-yard on every con- 
venient occasion ; but they are mostly attached to sheep, 
pigs, and calves. 

Although they are the pirates of the plains, and the 
deadly foes of all animals they think they can destroy, yet 
they are very useful in that region, for they act as scaven- 
gers, and clear away the putrefying carcasses of hundreds 
of animals that die from various causes, and which but for 
them would make the plains a bed of pestilence at certain 
seasons. 

Little can be said against them on account of their dan- 
ger to man, for they seldom attack him, even when they 
are in overpowering numbers and starving; and in this 
characteristic they present a strong and favorable contrast 
to their European congeners. I have heard of only one 
corroborated case in which they attacked a human being, 
and that was under exceptional circumstances. During a 
severe winter, when the fall of snow was very great, an In- 
dian hunter in Northern Idaho killed a deer one day, and 
while taking it home the smell of the blood attracted a 
pack of famishing wolves that were hunting in the woods. 
As soon as they overtook the man they jumped for the 
meat at once, and he, in trying to defend it, as he wanted 
it sadly for his own family, was attacked with the greatest 



144 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN TEE FAR WEST. 

fierceness; but before they could kill him he broke away, 
and sought safety iu a huge fir, and there he remained un- 
til the next morning, when he was rescued by some of his 
tribe. The wolves remained under his perch all night, and 
howled dismally, as if bemoaning their loss ; but as he had 
nothing except his bow and arrows with which to assail 
them, he did not have even the satisfaction of killing one. 
As their victory on that occasion was supposed to have 
emboldened them, the whole tribe turned out with their 
dogs and weapons, and destroyed several of them, and 
caused the remainder to flee to less dangerous quarters. I 
have only heard one hunter say that he was pursued by 
wolves, and that also seemed to be under unusual circum- 
stances. According to his tale, an immense pack, which 
he estimated to number some hundreds, chased him for 
several miles over deep snow ; and were it not for the 
speed and endurance of his horse, and the proximity of his 
house, he said he was almost sure they would have torn 
him to atoms, as they seemed to be in a famishing condi- 
tion. The statement seems probable enough, but, so far as 
I could learn, the occurrence was exceedingly rare. 

I have actually kicked them and pelted them with stones 
and dried buffalo chips, but I never knew them to display 
any more dangerous characteristics than to howl fearfully, 
or grin with pain as they trotted away. I did not even 
hear that they ever attacked horses or domestic horned 
cattle, probably for the reason that these animals will not 
bear any familiarity on their part, and charge them boldly 
whenever they come too close, or manifest any desire to 
feast on a colt or a calf. 

In certain wooded portions of the West where food is 
abundant at all seasons, the wolf attains such a large size 
that some naturalists have denominated it the Canis gigas, 
as it frequently attains a weight of one hundred and fifty 
or more pounds ; but when it reaches such dimensions it 
is generally timid, and keeps away from the abode of man, 
except on convenient occasions, when it takes a fancy to a 
lamb or a young porker. It often pays dearly for this 



THE GRAY WOLF. 145 

thieving propensity, for the rifle and strychnine are sure to 
be ready for it the next time it visits the farm-yard ; and 
if the farmer does not open on it, a bait sprinkled with the 
poison is almost sure to make it turn up its toes inside of 
three or four hours. This is the most effective means of 
destruction sheep-raisers can employ against it; and so ef- 
fective has it been found that the animal has been deci- 
mated in large tracts of country where it was very numer- 
ous a few years ago. 

A certain class of persons known as " wolfers" earn their 
livelihood by destroying it with poison. These men are a 
set of reckless nomads who live on the borders of civiliza- 
tion, and whose whole life seems to consist in braving cold, 
hunger, and sometimes death, for several months in the 
year, and spending the remainder in riotous debauchery. 
Those who make a business of " wolfing " do nothing else ; 
and it is doubtful if the majority are useful for anything 
else. They commence operations as soon as the winter sets 
in, and continue it until late in the spring. Their equip- 
ment consists of strychnine, flour, bacon, tea, coffee, and 
sugar, and a few primitive cooking utensils; the edibles 
being intended for themselves, and the poison for the 
wolves. Travelling far away from the settlements, they 
pitch their camp in a region where the animals are numer- 
ous, and wood and water are convenient. Having estab- 
lished themselves, their first duty is to procure a bait; and 
whether it be a buffalo or a deer, they cut it up into large 
pieces, sprinkle it freely with strychnine, and scatter it 
about some distance from camp. The result is that from 
ten to eighty wolves may be found dead the next morning 
within an area of five hundred yards, and sometimes the 
number exceeds even this. 

The carcasses are taken to camp, where they are skinned, 
and, being sprinkled with some more poison, are placed as 
lures where they will do most good ; and so the slaughter 
is continued for several months, until scarcely one is left in 
a large tract of country. When the wolves eat the bait 
they become sick, and mad sometimes, especially if water 

7 



146 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

is not near, and break away for the hills, there to die, and 
be lost to the "wolfer." Some persons who follow "wolf- 
ing" as an addendum to their regular trapping or hunting, 
sprinkle aniseseed or assafoeticla over the poison and drag 
the bait over an area of several square miles, dropping 
pieces here and there until camp is reached, when they 
scatter several about in various directions, or tie them to 
trees and rocks, at a snatching height, with strings, so that 
they cannot be pulled away. This is a very effective sys- 
tem, as the trail of the meat is easily followed by its pun- 
gent odor, and, when once the wolves get on its line, they 
seldom give up until they reach the end. As the poison 
produces a burning thirst, it would be well to have some 
water convenient to the bait at intervals ; for, when once 
they have drunk this, they collapse immediately. If water 
is not near, they often run for miles to obtain it; and this 
necessitates a long walk in the deep snow, and freezing at- 
mosphere, to get the remains. 

Another means of poisoning them that is frequently em- 
ployed is to bore or cut a hole in a deep block of wood and 
fill it with melted fat sprinkled with strychnine, and place 
these blocks on the ground at irregular intervals. When 
the wolves find them they must lap up the fat slowly, and 
before they have cleaned out one cavity they are, in the 
majority of cases, turned into corpses. A little aniseseed 
or assafcetida scattered over the fat will help to attract the 
animals from afar, and lead them to blocks which they 
might otherwise miss. I have known forty coyotes to be 
collected in a space of three hundred yards by both these 
means, but I should consider the former the more prefer- 
able of the two. 

Trapping is of comparatively little avail, owing to the 
cautiousness, sagacity, and timidity of all the wolf family, 
whether small or large ; but if a trap is used, it should be 
the double-springed American make, as that will cling to 
anything. 

Some men earn from five hundred to fifteen hundred 
dollars each in poisoning wolves during the winter and 



THE GHAT WOLF. 147 

spring, and it is no unusual thing for a party of half a 
dozen to return to the settlements, after one campaign, 
with from six to twelve thousand cured skins ; and as they 
realize from one and a half to two dollars each, it is evi- 
dent that the business is profitable if the season is even 
indifferently good. 

When the majority of these men receive their money 
they spend it in the most reckless manner, and when it is 
exhausted they disappear from the settlements, and are not 
seen again until the following spring, when they return to 
renew their debauch. Where they go to after their spree 
no person seems to know ; but, from their character, one 
might infer that they wandered about like the animal with 
which they are so closely identified. A few of them, how- 
ever, are wise enough to keep their money, and they soon 
retire for good from the business, or seek a more congenial 
occupation. I knew one " wolfer " to save up eight thou- 
sand dollars in five years, and when I last saw him he was 
a prosperous merchant in a Western city. Another, whom 
I met in Montana, was a man of intelligence, a keen sports- 
man, a good amateur naturalist, and a successful stock- 
raiser. He cultivated a farm in spring and summer, and 
hunted in winter ; but his greatest wealth, in his own esti- 
mation, consisted in an interesting family, and, after them, 
in his herds of mustangs and horned cattle. He had a 
thorough knowledge of the character of the wolf, and so 
much contempt did he have for it that he could only com- 
pare it to an Indian. Although he destroyed many with 
strychnine, yet his greatest amusement was to hunt them 
with a pack of half a dozen huge fierce hounds which 
seemed to be a cross between the deer - hound and the 
blood-hound. These were bred by a Scotch half-breed in 
British America, their parents having been obtained from 
an officer in the British army. They were powerful ani- 
mals, which would run either by sight or scent, and any 
one of which was almost a match for a wolf either in 
strength or stride ; but they were difficult to manage, be- 
ing so intractable and bad-tempered that he dare not strike 



148 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

them without arousing their anger to such an extent that 
they were liable to attack him. This forced him to always 
go armed when hunting them, and to wear a sabre-bayonet, 
so keenly sharpened that he could cleave the head of one 
open with a blow if necessary. 

Useful as he found them, he thought them too dangerous 
for his own safety, and he was trying to supersede them 
by a cross between the mastiff and deer-hound, or the fox- 
hound and greyhound, as he thought these would be less 
irritable, more easily handled, and do their work equally as 
well as the fierce brutes which wore then in his kennel, and 
whose sole reliable obedience consisted in not touching a 
dead wolf. I went on a hunt with him one day with this 
pack, and the moment they were let out of the rude, stable 
they commenced baying and dashing about, as if they were 
overjoyed at the thought of a run. Both of us being well 
mounted, and armed with breech - loading guns charged 
with buckshot, we directed our course toward some rocky, 
wooded hills which loomed against the horizon about four 
miles to the north. Moving at a rapid gait, we were soon 
at their base, and the hounds, which seemed fresh and anx- 
ious, were set to work in a piece of shrubbery where a few 
wolves were generally found, especially during the cubbing 
season, as hares, antelopes, and other food were always to 
be procured in its vicinity. The hounds rushed through 
this as if it were a plain, and commenced quartering in 
every direction. 

Beating back toward us, one gave tongue within five 
yards of our position, and a moment later we saw a large 
grayish object darting through the bushes, and the hound 
in full cry after it. The others soon joined in the chorus, 
and away all dashed for the hills. " That must have been 
a she-wolf," said my friend, " or the critter would not have 
stayed there so long when we were so near ; it is, there- 
fore, very likely that we may find the cubs where she 
started from." We accordingly commenced a search for 
them, and in a few moments found six little creatures, evi- 
dently about a month old, in a grassy cleft between two 



THE GRAY WOLF. 149 

rocks. Tying them in couples by the legs, they were 
placed on the top of a huge bowlder to prevent them from 
falling into the jaws of the hounds ; and, to keep them 
from tumbling down, a barricade was laid around them. 
Feeling assured of their safety, we prepared to follow the 
pack, but we had advanced scarcely one hundred yards be- 
fore the canine chorus was heard approaching us a little 
to the right. "That wolf has played them a nice game," 
was the comment of my companion on hearing the baying. 
"How is that?" said I. " Why, she ran for the top along 
a dry ravine," said he, " where the scent is hard to follow ; 
and as soon as she got there she forded a small stream and 
doubled back to her young ones, and the hounds have been 
puzzling over the trail until a few minutes ago, when they 
probably struck it by accident; but now they are going to 
push her hard ; for she must either break from cover or 
double on her tracks, and in either case she will be over- 
taken in less than an hour." " What do you suppose she 
will do?" said I. "Why, she'll visit her nest," was the 
response, " and, finding the youngsters gone, will head for 
the plains; for a mother-wolf will not stop in a section 
where she has lost her cubs. If she leaves the forest, we 
may have a gallop after her over the plains, and you will 
then see what beautiful coursing a wolf can show, and what 
tact it will display in using cover, and in selecting the worst 
possible place for the scent to lie." 

During this conversation the canine music was drawing 
rapidly near; so "we prepared for a run by hurrying to the 
outer edge of the woods, and occupying such a position 
that we could see any object leaving it within a convenient 
distance. We had not taken our stand fifteen minutes, be- 
fore the wolf broke cover so near us that we could have 
shot her if we wished ; but as we desired to see a run, we 
allowed her to escape. Heading down wind, the terrified 
creature sped onward with immense strides, and we follow- 
ed in hot pursuit. The hounds soon joined us, and, with 
foam-flecked mouth and lolling tongue, streamed past us at 
a pace I had never seen hounds equal. The fugitive kept 



150 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



her lead for two or three miles, although our mustangs 
were fresh and fleet, but the hounds finally began to gain 
upon her, the ground being open ; she soon struck into a 
rough country, however, which was seamed by two or three 
small rivulets, and portions of which were dry masses of 
indurated clay that could scarcely produce a spear of grass, 
and over this she regained her lead by resorting to strata- 
gems. She ran along the banks of a ravine, then into the 
water, moving down with the slow current, and, escaping 
some distance below, made for the hillocks of bare earth, or 
where the prickly pear grew thickest; and this trick she 
repeated until she passed all the streams. The result was 
that the hounds frequently lost sight of her, or were puz- 
zled on the trail ; and were we not mounted, so that we 
could see her movements, she would, in all probability, 
have escaped them, owing to the lead she obtained by these 
delays. We, however, were able to make a straight cast as 
soon as we overtook the pack ; but they were so stubborn 
that their huntsman had some difficulty in getting them to 
obey him and leave their puzzling for the direct trail, they 
seeming to consider that they knew their own business bet- 
ter than he did. When one responded, however, the others 
followed its lead, and they were streaming away again in 
a short time with renewed energy. The chase continued 
over a rough piece of country for four or five miles, then 
into a beautiful stretch of gently undulating grass -clad 
prairie, and over this we had a splendid view of it, until 
it finally disappeared in a coppice of poplars. Our steeds 
were too much pumped to do more than keep in sight of 
the dogs after the first few miles ; still, they had endur- 
ance, and we were able to follow at a hand-gallop during 
the entire run. 

When we reached the coppice we found the wolf dead, 
and its throat torn open, while the hounds were lapping its 
blood. The swift creature had evidently sought rest and 
refuge there ; and, having become stiffened by the halt, was 
unable to escape her merciless pursuers when they reached 
it. On examining her, we found that she was a splendid 






THE GRAY WOLF. ' 151 

animal, evidently about four years old, and that she was in 
excellent condition for running, the suckling of the young- 
sters having relieved her of all unnecessary flesh, without 
having weakened her too much. 

My companion having taken her skin and tied it on his 
saddle behind him, we called at a rancher's cabin to get 
two sacks in which to bring home the cubs, and, having pro- 
cured these, we returned to the hill where the youngsters 
were concealed. On the way back he told me that wolves 
cubbed in May, and had from four to nine in a litter. The 
whole care of rearing them depended on the mother; and 
she was a good type of a faithful guardian and provider, 
and had strong maternal affection — as much, if not more, 
than the dog. 

When hunted or startled by foes, she does not desert her 
young until the last moment, and she leaves them then ap- 
parently more for the purpose of protecting them than of 
saving her own life. She has the greatest fear of man, and 
he is probably the only enemy she will not face in defence 
of her young ; yet, if they are able to run at all, she de- 
pends more on flight than fight for saving them. She will 
not, in fact, engage in combat if she can avoid it, unless it 
is with some animal she thinks she can overpower. She 
hunts much during the maternal period, and while her cubs 
are in the nest keeps them well supplied with edibles. The 
young join the pack as soon as they are able to run about 
well, and at the end of six months take part in the hunts 
and forays organized by their elders, and often acquit them- 
selves creditably, especially in stealing from camps, and in 
coursing hares and ground-squirrels. At the end of twelve 
months they are trained hunters, and able to hold their 
own in cunning with any fox that ever lived. He also 
said that wolves were attacked by hydrophobia sometimes, 
and on such occasions they rushed madly about, biting and 
snapping at everything. They lose all fear of man then, 
and boldly enter an Indian encampment and fly at any 
person they meet. Any one bitten by them is said to be 
almost sure to die of hydrophobia; so his friends make 



152 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

preparations for his death at once, and see that he is tied 
in snch a manner that lie cannot injure others. An Indian 
has heen known to escape the effects of a bite, however, by 
merely drinking a decoction of some herbs known to his 
tribe and bathing the wound in warm water. What this 
most potential herb was I could not learn, nor did my men- 
tor ever hear its name even in the Indian vernacular. 

Having returned to the cubs and tied them up in the 
bags, we started for home ; but before we got out of the 
woods a young dog-wolf broke cover almost under our nose. 
How on earth he remained there undisturbed after the pre- 
vious scouring of the region we could not understand, nor 
could we determine how his presence escaped the keen nose 
of the hounds. A look into his lair revealed the latter rea- 
son very promptly, for that contained some dead hares, one 
of which was scarcely touched. Having had plenty provi- 
sion in the house, he had not stirred out during the night 
or the day, and his footsteps could not therefore be dogged. 
When he went away, however, he went in a hurry ; for we 
both gave a tremendous shout that caused him to clap his 
tail almost up to the root between his legs, and to round 
himself into a hump, as if he had an elastic spinal column ; 
but when he heard the baying of the hounds behind him 
he straightened out the hump, put his nose close to the 
ground, and scudded away with all the speed that deadly 
terror could impart. Out of the woods he broke, and over 
the plains, with the pack in full cry behind him. Being 
hampered by the cubs, we did not attempt to follow, but, 
on mounting a knoll, we had a fine view of the run until 
it vanished from our sight behind one of the long hillocks 
near which a rivulet ran. " Something is the matter with 
the wolves here just now," said my companion, "else they 
would not break for the open so soon ; for they generally 
keep in the woods and rough places as long as they possi- 
bly can, and get away from shelter only when close pressed, 
and they see no other means of escape." 

"But what about the first?" said I. "Oh! she was 
trying to lead the dogs away from her young," was the 



THE GRAY WOLF. 153 

response. After thinking over their haste to escape from 
the woods for a few moments, he said lie thought lie could 
attribute it to the presence of Indians, and surmised that 
they were encamped higher up on the hill. This guess 
proved to he correct, for, on reaching an elevated piece of 
ground a little later, we saw a large party of the sons of 
the forest driving their mustangs out on the plains to 
graze. While jogging home, the mellow cow's horn, which 
the host used as a hunting-horn, was sounded at intervals 
to recall the hounds if the run was over, but not one an- 
swered the summons. When we were within three miles 
of the house, we came upon them suddenly as they were 
grouped around the dead wolf ; but they displayed no 
signs of welcome on our approach, and sat sullenly in their 
position until their owner threw the slain animal on his 
horse. On resuming our march, we came upon a herd of 
antelopes; but the dogs paid no attention to it, as they 
were not, as a rule, allowed to chase antelopes, not being 
fleet enough to overtake them in a fair run. They were 
used on deer, however ; but they went at such a pace in 
the woods that they frequently overran the scent, and their 
owner found it such a difficult matter to induce them to 
hark back that he was often annoyed by them. For open 
general running he considered they had few superiors, as 
their nose and pace were fairly good. 

As they trotted home with us, they looked gaunt, bony, 
and listless ; but when they espied a coyote some distance 
away, they were all animation at once, and, despite their 
hard day's work and the peremptory recall of the horn, 
they dashed after the creature in vigorous style, and with 
a wild burst of yelps that must have nearly startled the 
life out of it. The promenader, on discovering the canine 
group, closed to its Avork with a will, and was soon show- 
ing a clean pair of heels ; but as both vanished rapidly in 
the twilight, we were unable to see much of the chase. 
The dogs returned about ten o'clock, having been evidently 
successful in the run, and after a dinner of wolf-meat were 
glad to retire to their couch of straw in the stable. Their 



154 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

owner told me that they remained out all night sometimes 
in pursuit of wolves; and if they traced a bear or panther, 
they would not leave it until he arrived on the scene, or 
hunger drove them away. They made their position known 
by loud barking, and this they would keep up for twenty- 
four hours if necessary. They got into trouble frequently, 
through their ardor in the chase, and some of them car- 
ried the wounds inflicted by the teeth or claws of an angry 
bear or panther ; but they were so active, cautious, and sup- 
ported each other so well in an attack, that the advantage 
rested with them, as a rule. While they were not close- 
quarter dogs, yet they were excellent "snippers" and good 
"fencers," and could escape the leap of a panther or the 
hug of a bear as well as any animals in the country ; but 
their greatest delight was to collar a wolf and tear it to 
death. They did not always escape scathless from these 
contests, however, for in a life-and-death struggle their lu- 
pine foe was capable of doing a fair share of work with 
its long fangs. The fault he found with them was their 
temper and stubbornness, and the difficulty he had in man- 
aging them when once they got on the trail of an animal; 
otherwise he liked them very much for their work. They 
were good all-round dogs, that would do well at any game, 
and it seemed to me that they were well suited for general 
hunting in a country where there is so much variety and 
abundance of large animals. 

The true wolf-dog, one that has the size, weight, strength, 
speed, courage, and endurance to cope alone with the large 
gray species, is not yet known in the West, and, until it is, 
persons must be content to hunt it with any dogs that will 
chase it and bring it to bay till the sportsman can finish it 
with his knife, rifle, or revolver. If the Irish wolf-hound is 
ever to be I'evived, that seems to be the country in which 
it will be brought to perfection, as everything there is fa- 
vorable to its full development. If that animal is nothing 
more than a large deer-hound, however, as some writers as- 
sert, it cannot cope singly with a wolf weighing from one 
hundred to one hundred and fifty pounds, as it would lack 



THE GRAY WOLF. 155 

weight and strength, though it might possess nose and 
speed. Boar-hounds would make better wolf-dogs than 
the famous Irish breed which are sometimes exhibited pic- 
torially in sporting newspapers, and would be far more ser- 
viceable for general purposes. 

Two of the best wolf-dogs I saw in the West were a 
cross respectively between a deer-hound and a mastiff, and 
a greyhound and a bulldog, with a dash of bull- terrier 
blood. When these two hunted together and managed to 
come in contact w T ith a wolf, one seized it by the throat 
while the other seized one of its hind -legs, and between 
them both it was killed within the space of half an hour, 
or so seriously crippled that it fell an easy victim to the 
hunter's revolver. Though very brave and skilful fighters, 
they lacked speed to bring the animal to bay in a long run; 
and if they did not overtake it inside a distance of two or 
three miles, they generally gave up the chase, as they could 
not keep iu sight, and they did not have sufficient nose to 
follow it readily by its scent. Their retirement from the 
chase is not to be wondered at, for I have known wolves 
to run twenty or thirty miles before a fast pack of fox- 
hounds, and escape after all; but I have seen others run 
down in a sharp spin of five or six miles, although they 
had a good start. On a fine day, and with hard ground 
underfoot, a wolf w T ill lead the fastest pack in the world a 
merry gallop; but during wet weather it shows to bad ad- 
vantage, as its brush is so heavy that it is a regular mud- 
carrier; and this drags it down so much that it may be 
overtaken with a fast pack of fox-hounds in a run of a few 
miles over soft ground. 

If the barsee, or Siberian wolf-hound, is all it is said to 
be, it would prove a capital dog for the West, as the cli- 
mate ought to be well suited to it ; and wolves are abun- 
dant enough to furnish it with all the exercise it wants, 
and to bring out its highest qualities. 

One of the most intelligent dogs for still -hunting the 
wolf I saw anywhere was a combination of the wire-hair- 
ed fox-terrier and the rough-coated colly, with perhaps a 



150 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

dash of the fox -hound or harrier. This creature would 
run mute and very slowly, and was as much under control 
as a well-broken sheep-dog. When a wolf was found in 
the woods, and its quarters were known, the hunter placed 
a piece of poisoned meat there, and the next morning, as a 
rule, lie had another robe to add to his collection of pel- 
tries. This dog was owned by a stock-raiser and hunter, 
and nothing could induce him to part with it. 

Several keen sportsmen keep a few hounds for the spe- 
cial purpose of wolf-hunting ; but as they are no match in 
speed for their long-legged cousin, one or two greyhounds 
have to be used as auxiliaries, and when the quarry is get- 
ting too far ahead these are slipped, and they soon over- 
take it and keep it at bay, despite all its rushing and snarl- 
ing, until the hounds and mounted huntsmen arrive. 

If the wolf is young, the hounds are allowed to kill it 
themselves, in order to encourage them ; but if it is an old 
one, it can inflict too much injury on light, weak dogs in 
a death-struggle to make the contest anything but interest- 
ing to their owner. 

One of the most stirring hunting scenes imaginable is to 
follow a large pack of hounds in pursuit of a wolf over the 
level prairie on a fine morning in spring or autumn, and 
then to be in at the death. It has all the elements of the 
highest class of sport in it, and hounds and horses seem to 
enjoy it as well as the men. I recall distinctly such a hunt 
on the plains of Kansas. The pack consisted of fifteen 
couples of fairly fast fox-hounds trained to wolf-hunting, 
and two large Scotch deer-hounds, and they were followed 
by twenty men, who were well mounted, and armed with 
revolvers. When the quarry was driven out of a small 
coppice of poplars, it broke away over the prairie, with the 
hounds in full cry behind it, the deer-hounds being led by 
a leash beside one of the horses. Over the magnificent 
prairie, which extended in an unbroken line to the horizon 
like a vast flower-clad meadow, we dashed at the best pace 
of our fresh and spirited steeds, nor did we pull rein until 
we had covered at least ten miles, the pack being all that 



THE GRAY WOLF. 157 

! time going at their highest speed ; hut seeing that the 
quarry was still keeping its lead, and that there was a 
probability of losing it in a coppice a mile or two ahead, 
I the deer-hounds were unleashed, and away they sped like a 
I flash of gray light. A run of a few minutes placed them 
beside their foe, and they promptly brought it to a halt. 
It darted at them with open jaws, but they avoided its 
fangs, and when it tried to escape, one or the other bit it 
severely in the flanks. They worried it in this manner un- 
til the pack arrived ; and when we reached the scene we 
could only see a struggling mass of dogs and flying hair, 
and hear an occasional yelp as some hound was severely bit- 
ten ; but the struggle was soon over, and a splendid wolf 
lay dead before us, its head and throat being covered with 
scars, and its limbs broken. The spoils were then distrib- 
uted among the equestrians; but that was a simple affair 
and easily done, for the first horseman in at the death re- 
ceived the brush, and the owner of the pack took the skin. 
Some persons run down the animal with greyhounds 
trained to the business, and they keep it at bay until the 
hunters arrive, when it is killed with fire-arms. " Wolfers" 
resort to this method on the plains sometimes ; but as they 
seek the hide only when it is in good condition, in winter 
and spring, they cannot use greyhounds to good advantage 
in the wild country they frequent during their expeditions. 
In several merry spins that I have had after the wolf, 
both with and without the cheerful music of hounds, I 
have found the chase much more exciting than a run after 
a fox, as a person has no feeling for the fugitive, and he 
likes to practise his revolver on it as it scuds away. When 
mounted Indians pursue a pack of wolves, they make a sur- 
round, drive the animals into the centre, and then shoot 
away until they have slain all that have not run the gaunt- 
let. They prefer to trap them, however, to any other mode 
of capture, as it is a saving of time and energy. A wolf 
caught by the leg will gnaw it off rather than be made a 
prisoner; but before attempting that it will try to run 
away with the trap, and, if successful in this, it will travel 



158 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

rapidly on three legs for days at a time, or until it dies of 
starvation. 

There are so many wolves in the Far West, and there 
are so many good opportunities for driving them, that wolf- 
hunting must yet become a stirring pastime, one which will 
afford a virile pleasure, and, at the same time, prove of ben- 
efit to farmers and stock-raisers. As the animals can be 
pursued at nearly all seasons, and every farm is open to 
horsemen, wolf-hunting ought to become there what fox- 
hunting is in Great Britain ; and doubtless it will be so 
when the country gets settled up, and people have a little 
spare time to devote to the pleasures of the chase. 

Can the wolf be domesticated and made useful to man, 
is a question which might be asked here; and, from what 
I heard in the West, it seems probable that it can, for a 
hunter there had one that would chase a deer as well as 
any stag-hound, while it could also compare in pace with it, 
and had great endurance. It was so tame that it ran with 
a small pack of hounds which he owned, and so obedient 
that it answered his call promptly. He thought wolves 
had few equals for hunting large animals, such as the elk, 
or wapiti, moose, deer, wild-boar, and others, as they pounce 
upon the quarries and cut the hamstring, and, once crippled 
in that quarter, their formidable weapons are not very dan- 
gerous to their agile enemies. The lupine hunter does not 
always come off first best in a contest, however, as an inci- 
dent related by a Western pioneer will show. This charac- 
teristic story was told to a party of men who were discuss- 
ing the merits of wild pigs, and, as a type of the Western- 
er's descriptive power, is one of the best I ever heard or 
read. The speaker was one of those old farmers who lived 
some time in the wilderness, and he commenced his story 
in the following quaint manner : " One day, while passing 
along the bottoms, I seen such a sight of hogs as I never 
did see. Thar they stood, and squirmed, with their bristles 
up, and steam a risin 1 out o' their bodies, and their eyes 
a flashin', and teeth a champin'; a mass of bilin' mad hogs, 
who was a screamin' and a shakin' 'emselves with rao'e. 



THE QUAY WOLF. 159 

" "What was a causin' of all this commotion I was not 
long in seein'. Thar, in the middle of the great convention 
of hogs, stood a big oak stump, about five feet high, and in 
the centre of the stump stood a big gray wolf, as gaunt, 
hungry-lookin' a critter as ever I seed. 

"He was handsomely treed, and wasn't in a very pleas- 
ant fix, as he was beginnin' to find out. All about him was 
a mass of oneasy hair, fiery eyes, frothin' mouths, gleamin' 
teeth. Poor critter ! thar he stood — his tail tucked close 
between his legs and his feet all gathered into the exact 
centre of the stump — and Jerusalem! wasn't he a sick- 
lookin' wolf? He seemed to be thinkin' that he had sold 
himself awful cheap. 

"Right close about the stump and rairin' up against it 
was a crowd of some of the biggest and most onprincipled 
old sows I ever sot eyes onto. Every half-minit one of 
these big old she-fellows would l'air up, git her fore feet on 
top of the stump, and make a savage snap at one end or 
t'other of the wolf, her jaws comin' together like a flax- 
brake. 

"The wolf would whirl round to watch that partickerler 
sow, when one on t'other side of the stump would make a 
plunge for his tail ; an' so they kept the poor, cowardly, 
cornered critter whirlin' round and round, humpin' up his 
back, haulin' in his feet and tail, and in every possible way 
reducin' his general average. I'll bet his entire innards 
was drawed up into a bunch not bigger'n my fist ! 

"Almost every instant thar was a charge made on him 
from some quarter, an' sometimes from three or four direc- 
tions at once. Jewhittaker, wasn't it hurryin' times with 
him then ! 

" When he had a moment to rest an' gaze about, all he 
saw was them two acres of open mouths, restless bristles, 
and fiery eyes. His long red tongue hung out of his open 
jaws, and, as he moved his head from side to side, he 
seemed to have about the poorest conceit of his smartness 
of any wolf I ever seed. He had got himself into a nice 
pickle by tryin' to steal a pig, and he knowed it jist as 



160 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

well as if he'd bin human, and was ashamed of himself 
accorclin'. No quarter could he expect anywhere in all 
that sea of open, roarin' mouths. 

" Sich was the noise, and chargin' and plungin' and surg- 
in' to and fro, that I hardly felt safe behind my tree one 
hundred yards away. 

" I determined to try an experiment on that wolf. I 
raised my gun and fired into the air. At the report the 
critter forgot himself. He bounded from the stump with 
the crack of the gun, but he never tetched ground. Half 
a dozen open mouths reached up for him, and in them he 
landed. There was jist one sharp yell, then for a rod 
around was seen fly in' strips of wolf-skin, innards, legs, and 
hair; for half a minit was heard a crunchin' of bones, and 
then them old sows were lickin' their chops, rairin' up 
onto that thar stump and prospectin' about for more wolf. 

'"Bout that time I concluded the neighborhood was 
likely to prove onhealthy, and I got up and peeled it for 
the nearest clearin's." 



THE PRAIRIE WOLF. JQ\ 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE PBAIEIB WOLF. 

The Prairie Wolf. — Origin of its Name. — Its Position among; the Canidce. 
— The connecting Link between the large Wolf and the Fox. — Its Bur- 
rows. — Peculiarity of its Barking. — Its Form and Color. — How it is 
looked upon by Plainsmen. — Where it is very Abundant. — Hunting it 
on Horseback. — Its Speed. — Best Dogs for Hunting it. — Its Numbers 
make it difficult to be Hunted by one Pack of Hounds. — The Heavi- 
ness of its Brush. — When it runs Best. — Best Horses for the Chase. — 
Leaves a Screaming Scent. — Dashes after it with Hounds and Horses. 
—Kill Six in One Day. — Run into Encampments of War-parties of 
Indians. — Rapid Retreat. — A Severe Fight with the Red Men. — A 
Chase on the Plains of the Columbia. — The Meet. — Mongrel Dogs and 
their Love of Fighting.— At Cover.— Start. — Two Coyotes.— The Pur- 
suit. — Killed by Indian Dogs. — A Mongrel Greyhound brings One to 
Bay, and it is shot. — I shoot One. — Looking for my Party. — A Meet 
and a Run. — Surprised by Indians. — Whites versus Indians in the 
Chase. — Seven Coyotes killed. — Fun and Confusion. — Falls and Laugh- 
ter. — The Relation of Indian Dogs to Coyotes. — Their Character for 
Hunting. — Future of Coyote-hunting. 

The prairie wolf, or coyote (Canis latrans),\s found all 
over the open plains of the Far West, and ranges from 
British America on the north to Mexico on the south. Its 
technical cognomen is derived from its characteristic in 
barking, which is so different from the melancholy howl 
of the gray wolf, and its common name of coyote, from 
the Mexicans ; but among them it is a wretched creature, 
little larger than a fox, and so timid that it flees from a 
cur. It is much larger, more active and energetic, in the 
North, and has all the qualities necessary to make hunting 
it with hounds and horses both interesting and exciting. 
It seems to occupy the position in size and character be- 
tween the large wolf and the fox, and to be the connecting 
link between them. It resembles the wolf in bodily out- 
line, appearance, and color, and, like it, hunts in packs; 



162 



SPORTING ADVENTURES IN TEE FAR WEST. 



but it approaches the fox in some of its habits. Like 
the latter, it lives and has its young in burrows, which it 
makes, if necessary, by digging with its claws ; whereas 
the large wolf produces its young in caves, the clefts of 
rocks, under a tree, or in places where no digging is nec- 
essary. The voice also seems to be a combination of the 
long howl of the wolf and the yelp of the fox ; but so dis- 
tinctly marked is it from either, that, once heard, it is 




rit.UEIE WOLVES. 



never forgotten. The coyote has the strange peculiarity 
of making the cry of one sound like that of many; and 
should two or three try their larynx at the same time, 
persons would fancy that large packs were giving tongue 
in chorus. The cry seems to be divided into two parts. 
Its first begins with a deep, long howl, then runs rapidly 
up into a series of barks, and terminates in a high scream, 
issued in prolonged jerks. 

This animal is larger than the fox, being about two feet 



THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 163 

high, and, like it, has a long, slender, and rather sharp- 
pointed muzzle. The eyes, which are close together, are 
of a light-brown color ; the ears are long and erect ; the 
legs, especially the hind ones, are very long, compared to 
its size; the feet are also long; the pads are black and 
naked ; and the tail, which is bushy, and more than half 
the length of the body, is tipped with white hairs. Its 
general color is an ochreous gray, which is much lighter 
on the abdomen than on the back and sides ; and the 
long hairs on the neck, which it bristles up when angry, 
have a speckled appearance when it is in that mood. It 
hunts much at night, and its dismal howls may then be 
heard a long distance off. Its cry, which is so much exe- 
crated by those who feel that their life is not endangered 
by red foes, is pleasant music to those who have to traverse 
a country frequented by hostile Indians ; for while it in- 
dulges in midnight serenades they know that their most 
deadly enemies are some distance away. Let its cries 
cease, however, and the plainsmen, who have been lulled 
to serene sleep by its weird howls, w T ould awake at once, 
and make preparations for a struggle of life and death. 
Its voice has often- been to hunters what the geese were 
to ancient Rome; and this characteristic has often been 
the means of saving its life, for it was looked upon more 
as a friend than a foe, notwithstanding its kleptomaniac 
propensities, and the natural antipathy of man to all its 
wild tribe. Its specific distinction of latrans is most ap- 
propriate, for a bigger barking thief it would be difficult 
to find, nor, at the same time, one more cowardly, for a 
cur will cause a whole pack to scamper away with the 
utmost celerity. It never attacks man, even when famish- 
ing; but should he leave any edibles convenient, it will 
steal them with greater cunning than ever fox displayed. 

The Indians of Washington Territory have a tradition 
that it is a demon or deity, and therefore pay it much re- 
spect, and never, I believe, kill it, for fear of its bringing 
them " bad medicine," or ill luck. It figures largely in 
the myths of all the red men inhabiting the region border- 



164 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

ing the Pacific Ocean, and occupies a position of promi- 
nence not accorded to any other animal. While it is 
common everywhere in the Far West, it is unusually 
abundant on the great plains of the Columbia east of the 
Cascade Range, as it finds plenty of food there in the in- 
numerable sage-hares, ground-squirrels, badgers, and other 
small game that inhabit the country ; while it enjoys a 
feast, that lasts for several months, off the myriads of 
dead salmon that strew the banks of the Columbia and 
its numerous tributaries during the spawning season. I 
have seen coyotes trotting up and down the shores of 
these rivers in large packs during the spring and summer, 
and fighting and snarling over any offal washed ashore by 
the waves. 

It has so little fear of man in that region that it will 
impudently stare at him as he passes by, perhaps within 
revolver range; and should he fire at it and miss, the re- 
sult might be that it would trot off a few paces, then turn 
about and gaze once more with an expression in which 
one might read, "I wonder who that is? what could he 
mean by making that noise? he evidently is no friend of 
mine, so I'll be off to safer quarters ;" and, having come 
to this conclusion, it would quietly move off as if it were 
in no great hurry to display its fears. Should one repeat 
the fire, however, it would become a dissolving view, for, 
when put to it, few of its genus can make better time for 
a short distance, say from ten to fifteen or twenty miles. 
It has so little running to do in search of its prey in the 
Far West, owing to the profusion of animal life, that its 
full powers of speed have not been fully developed, and 
its wind is not good, if driven hard by swift-footed fox- 
hounds, for more than two or three hours. I have myself, 
when mounted on a good horse, overtaken it in a run of 
fifteen or twenty minutes; but I must say that the pace 
was killing on my steed, and that I plied the whip occa- 
sionally. 

One of my greatest amusements in a certain portion of 
California was to mount a horse belon<nii2f to a friend, and 



THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 1G5 

ride after coyotes until I lost or captured them. This 
horse, which was a great favorite of mine, although he 
would buck like a bounding rubber ball occasionally, and 
shy without the least cause every few minutes, and when 
I did not expect it, was a capital jumper — an unusual thing 
for an untrained horse in the West — and could run ten or 
fifteen miles at a slashing gait without showing much suf- 
fering. When I hunted coyotes I generally had one or 
two dogs with me; but I frequently went without them, as 
the quarries were so numerous that they were liable to 
start up at any moment near my feet. At the first view I 
would dash after them, and force them to their best pace 
for fifteen or twenty minutes ; and I found that this soon 
produced its effect, and that I might expect to capture 
them at any moment if they did not escape me in the chap- 
arral. When I drew alongside I let them have the con- 
tents of a large revolver; but I sometimes secured one by 
striking it on the head with a club or " waddy," or by las- 
soing it with a raw-hide lariat. 

It may perhaps be needless to state that I lost many 
more than I captured, unless I was accompanied by the 
dogs, and even then I might say that I could count more 
escapes than captures. The only way to be sure of it is to 
use a greyhound ; for that light-footed creature will soon 
bring it to bay, and enable the pack of hounds, or other 
dogs, to come up with it. If a person is well up in the 
run on such occasions, he will see a pretty bit of a scram- 
ble ; for the coyote, when it sees no means of escape, will, 
like the traditional worm, turn on its foes, and use its sharp 
teeth to good advantage. A capital dog for hunting it 
would be a cross between the fox-hound and deer-hound, or 
the fox-hound and the German idlmerhund, or boar-hound ; 
for the greyhound alone does not seem to have sufficient 
combativeness or destructiveness to face any animal that 
will make a vigorous resistance. I am rather inclined to 
believe that the latter cross would produce one of the 
best dogs for coyote-hunting in the West, as it would have 
strength and courage enough to face any game, and it ought 



166 SrORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 




to have sufficient 
nose to enable it to 
follow a coyote, and 
the speed to overtake 
it also. A good pack 
of fast fox- hounds 
will drive it at a rat- 
tling pace, however, 
and, if the ground 
is open, may kill it 
inside an hour. I 
have known it to 
lead them for twenty or more miles without a check on 
broken, hilly ground, and escape in a chasm, yet I have 
frequently seen it captured in half an hour; but then the 
dogs were fast indeed, and got off close after it. I have 
seen several killed in a day by a small pack, but in such 
cases they were in unusual numbers, and rose up almost 
under the noses of the dogs. I have seen a small ]3ack of 
seventeen or eighteen couples of coyotes rise out of bur- 
rows in the ground, apparently at once, and scud about in 



TIIE U'OI.F. 



THE FRAIRIE WOLF. 167 

every direction, and in their eagerness to escape they some- 

jj times ran into the mouths of the dogs. Where they are so 

numerous, the greatest annoyance is that the hounds sep- 

i arate, and the result is that there are perhaps a dozen runs 

o-oinsr on at the same time instead of one. 

If a coyote is started alone — not an unusual occurrence — 
the best means of securing a kill is to drive it as hard as pos- 
sible for the first few miles, for, as in fox-hunting, it is the 
pace at the start that does the work, and causes it to suc- 
cumb in a short time. Having a large brush, it soon tires 
on soft ground on a wet day, especially if the mud carries, 
for the tail is heavy, and soon drags it down. If nature 
intended it to escape by fleetness, she ought to have made 
it bob-tailed ; for its present long caudal appendage is too 
cumbersome for its fore-quarters in a long run, and is a 
regular mud-carrier. When the animal is running uphill 
it also trails badly, and seems to almost counterbalance the 
advantage furnished by long hind-legs and staunch flanks. 
Over hard, broken ground, however, it does not seem to be 
so much of a drag-clown, and the bearer can then travel at 
a rate that would put the best hounds and horses in Great 
Britain to their mettle to keep it in sight. The horses 
used in its pursuit should be compact, fleet, and enduring, 
and should also be prompt in movement — in a word, handy; 
for a coyote will often jump out of its burrow in the twin- 
kling of an eye, and the steed that is not able to get under 
full headway in a moment is liable to remain in the back- 
ground, unless it is unusually fleet of foot. Indian mus- 
tangs make capital mounts, as they have fair endurance, 
and can make a good spurt for a short distance, and can 
plunge into a gallop from a halt; yet some of the thor- 
ongh-bred blood in them would enhance their value, as it 
would give them the speed they now lack except for a few 
minutes. Regular hunters would, to a certain extent, be 
useless in the West, as the country frequented by the coy- 
ote is so uneven, in many cases, that a run is often a scram- 
ble up hill and down dale, and, to clamber well, a horse 
seems to want some mustano- blood in it, or the blood of 



168 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

those Kerry ponies which are said to be able to slide down 
a precipice with a rider. 

With a good horse and a fast pack of hounds, few sports 
are more spirited than a coyote-hunt, as the run is, in near- 
ly all cases, a break-neck one; for the animal leaves what 
might be called a screaming scent, and its flight is as 
straight as a bee-line, except under unusual circumstances. 
The male has one of the most vilely obscene odors imagi 
nable ; and if the wind is blowing from his direction when 
he is in flight, a person with keen olfactories can detect it, 
if close on. Although the coyote is generally captured by 
being trapped or poisoned, yet a few gentlemen of sport- 
ing proclivities have a dash after it occasionally on horse- 
back, their ride being cheered by the stirring music of 
flute-voiced fox-honnds. Others keep mongrel greyhounds, 
which can overtake it in a spurt of two or three miles, if it 
has not received too much of a start; and they afford cap- 
ital amusement, as the run is nearly always a straight one, 
for the animal doubles only when headed off or closely 
pressed. Those who poison it for its skin frequently scat- 
ter a little assafoetida over the bait, as it likes the smell of 
this, and will eat any meat on which it is placed with a rav- 
enousness that only wolves or jackals can display. 

It is sometimes rather dangerous to handle this animal 
when dead, for it is frequently covered with sores, produced 
by eating the corpses of Indians, which are often left un- 
buried, or so lightly covered that they can be easily dug 
up. Persons should therefore be cautious about handling 
it without gloves. 

The only danger one encounters in hunting it on horse- 
back is, that in a headlong dash his steed may tread in the 
hole of a prairie-dog, badger, or ground-squirrel, and break 
its leg, or be thrown so violently as to pitch the rider sev- 
eral feet away on his back. This can be avoided, however, 
by a little caution, so that the sport is not so dangerous as 
fox or stag hunting in Europe. 

A run is spoiled occasionally by the numbers of the ani- 
mal, for, congregating as it does in large packs, it is no un- 



THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 



169 




common tiling for the hounds to come suddenly upon one 
containing twenty or more, and then it is both amusing 
and annoying to see them break into a dozen or more 
groups and scamper away in different directions, with as 
many groups of hounds behind them. All the horns in 
the world could not control the dogs under such circum- 
stances ; so the riders have to follow some special pack, or 
sit idly in their seats and await the return. As a coyote 
rarely runs to ground, crosses heavy woods — though it 
may pass through a coppice — or doubles back, a person 
may imagine how tedious it must be to await the return 
of the hounds. I have known them to go so far that they 
did not get back to camp until late at night, and it was no 
unusual event for some of them to spend a night on the 
prairie. 

A hunt would be more picturesque if there were many 
persons in the field, or if it were graced by the presence of 



170 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

ladies; but in that thinly settled country men and women 
are too busy to devote much attention to the chase, except 
for some practical purpose, such as supplying the house 
with meat, or their pockets with the money procured from 
the sale of peltries. 

One of the most interesting runs that I ever had after 
the coyotes netted us six of them ; but when we returned 
to the house in the evening, both hounds and horses were 
so badly used up that they were of little use for two or 
three days thereafter. The master of the hounds an- 
nounced his intention to a few neighbors of having a grand 
coyote-hunt one day, and asked them to be participators 
therein; and they promptly returned an affirmative answer 
by coming personally t lie night before the meet. As there 
were not accommodations in the house for all, it was de- 
cided that some should sleep on the hay in the stable, and, 
with true Western contempt of idle luxuriousness, they all 
concluded to go there ; and that matter being settled in a 
minute, the next was to decide at what hour in the morn- 
ing we should start. Various hours were specified ; but 
the matter was finally determined by a veteran, who was 
known as " an old settler," and therefore conspicuously 
important, when he said, with true Western politeness, 
. " Gentlemen, I guess you all know more about coyotes 
than I do; but, if you'll take my good-for-nothin' advice, 
you'll go out as airly in the mornin' as you can, for coyotes 
are like the men that make money in the States — they stay 
awake all night a thinkin' how they'll beat other critters, 
and then they're up the first thing in the mornin' a tryin' 
to carry out all their nasty plans — I beg your parding, 
young gals, for sayin' ' nasty,' but that's my opinion o' 
coyotes; for I think they're only thievin' Injun dogs that 
can't be civilized. Now, if we get out in the mornin', we'll 
be sure to take 'em on the hop ; and if we do, you'll have 
peltries enough " (addressing the M. H.) " to make up for 
the day's loss ; and if we don't see 'em, why, we'll come 
home airly." The pros and cons of this statement were 
discussed fully, and it was finally decided that we should 






THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 171 

be up at daylight, and be on the coyote ground, three 
miles away, by four o'clock. The evening was spent in 
telling stories of hunting experiences about all sorts of 
wild animals, and I learned more on that occasion about 
the natural history of Western animals than I did out of 
all the learned works I had ever read. The intervals be- 
tween the tales were filled up with music on the " pi-anor," 
as the "fust settler" called it, by the young ladies of the 
house — charming, independent, self-reliant, and domestic 
young ladies, who would do honor to any drawing-room in 
their easy, obliging behavior, and in their good looks ; but 
I fear they would not pass muster in their dress, for it was 
a. simple calico, made graceful by no other accessories than 
their good taste and Venus-like forms. It is a peculiarity, 
or I might say a feeling of paternal pride, in all Western 
men, that the moment they are able to purchase a piano 
they do it for the sake of the daughters, for, as they say 
locally, " boys are boys, and gals are gals ;" and while one 
wants "a rifle, a dog, and a horse, the other wants nothing 
hut a new dress or a hat, and a ' pi-anor.' " The boys are 
nobodies, the girls are everything; the former can hunt or 
fish, or be anything they please ; the girls must be educated, 
and able to talk a little French and play the " pi-anor," else 
they are also nobodies. What with music, singing, story- 
telling, and the contents of a barrel, the evening was pleas- 
antly spent, and by midnight we were all soundly sleeping. 
We were awake before daylight, and had breakfast by 
lamplight; and after that we saddled our steeds, and each 
taking a spare horse with him, we were off by 4 a.m., and in 
half an hour after we were amidst the haunts of the prowl- 
ing coyote. We had scarcely reached the ground before 
we espied a vagrant trotting about, and, getting after it 
close behind, we ran it for five miles at a rattling rate, and 
the hounds killed it on a knoll before we were within 
shooting range. The "blooding" they received seemed 
to have sharpened their appetite for more coyotes, for they 
were jumping about and giving tongue as if they were on 
a trail; but we supposed it was the buoyancy of their feel- 



172 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

ings at a prompt victory that caused them to indulge in 
such an unusual display of melody. Having skinned the 
slain animal, we moved down into the plain ; and there the 
dogs found the scent so fierce that they raised their heads 
in the air, and went away at full cry. We could see noth- 
ing to cause this outburst; but before we had gone a few 
yards, out jumped from their burrows two dog-coyotes, 
and away we went after them. The hounds separated on 
the quarries, two couples following one, and three the 
other. I kept with the former, and in a run of less than 
seven miles had the satisfaction of planting a bullet in the 
fugitive's head as he swerved past me on a new tack, and 
the hounds, on coming up, found him dead, much to their 
astonishment, and, I should fancy, disappointment, as they 
were content with a few shakes, and a glance at me as if 
to inquire how it happened that he was dead. The other 
men followed the three couples, but they had to run for ten 
miles or more before they caught the runaway. As both 
divisions of the hounds were running in almost parallel 
lines, we had little difficulty in reuniting the pack; and 
when that was done we started off for new fields, after 
giving the animals a short rest. 

Moving about two miles toward the north, we reached a 
long, rolling plain that extended for miles in every direc- 
tion. Halting there, we changed horses, for each man had 
his spare steed with him. "When the dogs were cast loose 
they could find no scent, the soil being light and gritty, 
therefore not well able to hold it; so we left there, and 
directed our course toward the eastward, where the grass 
was denser. A tramp of two miles led us into a region 
where the hounds found a sharp perfume, and away they 
went at a rattling pace; but they lost it inside of a mile, 
and so suddenly that we were surprised at it. We tried 
all means to strike the line again by casting about in every 
direction and harking back, but we could not find it. We 
then commenced searching the ground for a burrow, and, 
after working for perhaps ten minutes, one of the party 
found a deep hole on the banks of a rivulet, and, leading 



THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 173 

the dogs there, they gave tongue in the most clamorous 

maimer. This proved that the quarry was there ; and we 

were beginning to plan how we should get it out, when one 

of the dogs raised his voice a few yards below us, and, on 

looking around, we saw a coyote streaming away before 

him. We dashed after the quarry at our best pace, and as 

' the horses were fresh we were soon leading the hounds. 

When we got within range of the fugitive we opened tire 

I promptly with our revolvers, and, somebody hitting it in 

I the flanks, tumbled it over, and before it could get away 

;j the hounds were upon it and throttling it to death. 

After this kill, we concluded to turn homeward, and take 
our chances with meeting any coyotes on the way. We 
had proceeded scarcely three miles before we surprised a 
vixen out for a " constitutional ;" but she evidently had 
little fear of us, for she did not attempt to move until she 
saw the baying hounds heading full for her. She then tore 
away at a stirring pace, but she was driven so hard that 
she ran to earth in the first burrow she met. This was a 
most unusual proceeding for a coyote, and we were rather 
surprised at it, but we concluded to have her, nevertheless ; 
so one of our party was sent to a stock-raiser's cabin about 
a mile away to borrow a spade with which to dig her out. 
When he returned operations were commenced, and in less 
than twenty minutes we had her brush, and, a few minutes 
later, her skin. We were so delighted with our success 
that we were getting coyote -struck; but as our horses 
were badly blown, and were covered with foam, we con- 
cluded to give up any more hunting for the day; so, when 
we reached a small country store, where everything, from 
cloth to whiskey, was sold, we entered, and drank a bumper 
or two, and after hearty hand-shakes and several " good- 
byes," each wended his way homeward. I returned with 
the host and hounds, well pleased with my share of the 
spoils, as I had two brushes dangling from my horse's 
mane. When within five miles of the house, we started a 
splendid male, and the hounds, weary as they were, started 
after him; nor would they respond to the peremptory re- 



174 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

call of the melodious cow's horn which their owner carried. 
Seeing that they would not return, we concluded to follow 
them, for fear they might get lost, or be captured by some 
lover of good hounds; so we jogged along at a steady can- 
ter, just close enough behind them to hear their cry. Their 
route led us over steep hillocks, up which we could only 
crawl, down precipitous ravines, where we had to pick our 
way, and across charming vales, gay with brilliant flowers 
and green with the richest of grasses. 

The chase continued in this manner for an hour or more, 
when we at length got a glimpse of the hounds as they 
were entering a heavy piece of woods that crowned a hill- 
top. We followed them through this at a snail's pace, but, 
on reaching the other side, we saw the coyote running 
short, and this induced us to make a final spurt. Plying 
the spurs, we tried to close with the fugitive ; but before 
we could do it we found ourselves in the midst of an In- 
dian encampment, and the pack streaming away to the left 
on open ground. As the Indians were at that time sup- 
posed to be unfriendly, we did not know what was best to 
do at first — whether to dash through it unconcernedly, or 
turn about and beat a retreat; but after a halt of about a 
minute we saw that the women and children disappeared 
like magic in the tepees, and that there were no men about 
except a few old bucks, who stared at us in as much aston- 
ishment as Indians ever display; and knowing then that 
the braves were out hunting or on the war-path, we dashed 
through the village, revolver in hand, and followed the 
quarry. In a run of a mile or two we came suddenly upon 
a large pack of mongrels of all sizes and, shapes, which 
were worrying our hounds, and, jumping into their midst, 
we soon scattered them by a few vigorous kicks, and sent 
them howling down the sides of a bluff. The rescue was 
evidently welcome to our dogs, for some of them were 
bleeding at the ears, and all were thoroughly exhausted. 
We found the coyote dead a few yards farther on, and, 
judging from his numerous wounds, we came to the con- 
clusion that he had run into the Indian curs, and was killed 



THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 175 

by them before our dogs could overtake him. As we were 
rather suspicious of the friendliness of the red men, owing 
to the strange actions of the squaws and children, we col- 
lected the hounds together and hastened homeward as fast 
as our weary horses could carry us. Instead of retreating- 
through the camp, however, which was the nearest route, 
we crossed a high, wooded hill, and on emerging on the 
other side, where we commanded an extensive view of the 
plain, were perfectly thunderstruck to see smoke and flames 
issuing from the scattered cabins, and to behold groups 
of horsemen dashing about in various directions. A mo- 
mentary glance enabled us to decide what was the cause 
of these conflagrations ; and when my companion turned 
round to me and said, "I think, old boy, our scalps will be 
lifted before we're many hours older," I confess I felt some 
qualms steal over me. 

As time was of the utmost importance just then, we did 
not waste much of it in discussing what was best to be 
done, as my companion had resolved on reaching home as 
rapidly as possible, to try and save his family from the 
tomahawk of the red foes. He was very much afraid that 
they might have been there before him, and this made him 
almost wild with excitement and feelings of revenge; but 
on rounding a long, sharp spur of the hill, which gave us a 
good view of the vale in which his cottage was situated, 
he was delighted to see everything in its usual tranquil 
condition. Cheered by this welcome sight, we hastened 
onward as rapidly as possible, and in the course of half an 
hour reached the house. Leaping off the half-dead horses 
the moment we reached the door, he rushed in, still doubt- 
ful of the fate of his family; but on finding his wife at- 
tending to her business as usual, and the young children 
playing on the floor, he became as stoical as an Indian 
brave ; and after kissing them all in the ordinary way, he 
asked his wife if she had seen any Indians about during 
his absence. She replied that she had not, except Joe, the 
half-breed, and he was hastening as fast as his horse could 
carry him to the mining hamlet ten miles away. In re- 



17(3 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

sponse to her query why he had asked such a question, he 
said that it was mere- idle curiosity, as lie had seen a party 
of them on his way back, and he did not know but they 
might be out on a horse-stealing expedition and pay his 
ranch a visit. Having lulled her suspicion by his coolness, 
he went to the stable and hitched two bell-mares and six 
stout mules to his wagon, and in this he placed a quantity 
of bed-clothing and some weaving apparel. When this was 
done, he told his wife that he was somewhat afraid that 
the red demons might visit the valley during the night or 
the following day, and he thought it best to take the fami- 
ly to a place of safety for fear of any accident occurring to 
them. 

The wife, suspecting that something was amiss, did not 
utter a word ; and at his request she wrapped the young- 
er children as warmly as possible, and, placing them with 
the elder and a quantity of meat, bread, and flour in the 
wagon, she took her seat beside the eldest boy and drove 
the team herself, while we, armed to the teeth, rode on 
ahead on fresh horses to reconnoitre the route and look 
for Indian signs. After travelling about two miles in the 
direction of the mining village, we came upon the tracks 
of unshodden horses ; and, after scanning them carefully, 
we decided that they were produced by four Indian mus- 
tangs which had come from the direction of the camp we 
had visited in the afternoon, and were going toward the 
north-eastern portion of the valley, where there were sev- 
eral settlers engaged in stock-raising. We deduced from 
this that the animals were ridden by four braves who 
were probably out on a reconnoissauce to see if the pres- 
ence of their tribe in the vicinity was known, and what op- 
portunities were offered for making a raid on the settle- 
ment. The smalluess of the party was evidently intended 
to allay suspicion; for the stock-raisers who have been 
harassed by the sudden attacks of the red men fly to arms 
on seeing them in any numbers, or finding the tracks of 
their shoeless ponies on the ground. Being assured of 
their purpose, we made a detour to the right and called 



THE Ell Alii IE WOLF. 177 

lit two farm-houses, and informed the occupants of the 
threatened danger, and what we had seen; and they soon 
joined us, leaving everything behind them except a little 
food and clothing. Tims re-enforced, we moved onward 
as rapidly as the teams could travel, the men keeping close 
to the wagons ; but whenever we approached a house, 
two of the party rode off and notified its inmates of the 
alarming condition of affairs, and they too were on the 
march toward the mining camp as rapidly as possible. 
This place was selected as the head-quarters, owing to its 
strong position and the number of men there, and the 
fact that food and shelter could be procured there for a 
considerable length of time if the people could not return 
to their own homes. 

When we reached the camp at eight o'clock, it was in 
a state of the greatest excitement, news of the danger hav- 
ing been brought there by the half-breed Joe, the infor- 
mation having been imparted to him by his cousin, an 
Arapahoe squaw. Men were running hurriedly about, 
and arming and mounting in hot haste, while couriers 
were being despatched in every direction to warn the 
distant stock-raisers and to rally the scattered miners. 

The women and children, as fast as they arrived, were 
furnished with accommodations in their own cabins by 
the generous miners, and the armed men were assigned 
to detachments which were under the command of expe- 
rienced Indian -fighters. About midnight we had fifty 
mounted and well-armed men ready to take the field, while 
twenty more remained in camp to guard the women and 
children — that number, with the re -enforcements which 
were sure to come in during the night, being deemed suf- 
ficient to protect the village from a whole tribe of Sioux. 
Each man who was to take the field having been supplied 
with bread and beef enough to last for three days, he 
tied them on his saddle, and, when everything was ready, 
all started out in a body about 1 a.m. ; and, as the moon 
was shining brightly, we were able to gallop rapidly over 
the rolling plain, until we reached the previously mention- 



1*78 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

ed spur of the hill, and there we halted to gaze on the 
scene of devastation, which was visible for miles toward 
the south. Houses wei'e blazing or smoking in every di- 
rection as far as the eye could see, and their lurid glare 
illuminated the country for miles around. It was evident, 
from the course of the flames, that the raiders were work- 
ing toward the south, and burning and killing on their 
way ; but why they left the main settlement undisturbed 
was a mystery to many. The only cause that could be 
adduced was that the settlers toward the south had larger 
flocks and herds, and were also more widely scattered, so 
that they could not rally in sufficient numbers to make a 
stand of any consequence against the red fiends. 

We gazed on the scene for an hour or more with a 
sort of fearful fascination ; and during that time deep and 
vehement were the threats and execrations hurled at the 
treacherous foes who had created such havoc among a 
peaceable people. As we desired to be up at daybreak, 
we concluded to have a short nap, if possible; so each 
man picketed his horse and unloosed the saddle, but did 
not take it off, and, rolling himself up in his woollen 
blanket, was soon trying to woo gentle sleep. This was 
rendered impossible, however, by the yelping of coyotes 
and the melancholy howling of wolves, and, when we arose 
about daylight, I doubt if one person had enjoyed ten 
minutes of undisturbed repose. After a hasty breakfast, 
it was decided to send ten men back to the cottage of my 
host and let them watch the valley, while the remainder 
tried to surprise the Indian encampment we had visited 
the previous day. As soon as they started to return, the 
party that I was with moved off at a brisk trot, with 
scouts well advanced, and flankers stretching for a mile 
or more toward the wooded hills, to prevent any sudden 
assault from that direction. After proceeding about three 
miles, we heard firing in front, and, galloping up as fast 
as we could, found the scouts on foot, and skirmishing 
with a party of young braves. Our line was deployed in 
extended order at once, and each man advanced as he 



THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 179 

pleased. We found the Indians in stronger numbers than 
we expected, considering their movements the previous 
day ; but as every man of our party seemed to be actu- 
ally mad for revenge, their numerical superiority availed 
them little, and they were pushed backward gradually, 
notwithstanding the fact that they took advantage of ev- 
ery bit of cover, and seemed to rise out of the ground 
like grasshoppers. They tried to surround us two or 
three times inside of an hour, but a vigorous charge scat- 
tered them like chaff, and the survivors were glad to beat 
a hasty retreat to their own lines. Their yells and shouts, 
when circling around us, were fairly demoniacal in their 
intensity; but these had little effect on the pioneers who 
opposed them, as they had heard them too often to care 
much for them. After they were driven back to the 
wooded hill, they made a most determined stand, and 
poured out a deadly fire that killed several horses and 
wounded a few men. A party of our men on the left, 
who were on open, rolling ground, attempted to stop this 
by making a vigorous charge ; but they were met by such 
a volley that they were compelled to halt and seek cover 
wherever they could find it. A few of the more advanced, 
who had their horses kdled under them, used their trusty 
steeds as breastworks, and kept up the fight with a vigor 
and determination that only Western pioneers can display ; 
and their fire was so destructive that a body of the Indians 
charged them several times on horseback, in order to cap- 
ture them, but they were driven back with heavy loss each 
time. 

The detachment which I accompanied worked around 
to the right until we reached a wooded knoll, and, under 
cover of this most welcome shelter, we reached the flank 
of the Indians and opened a fierce fire, which soon caused 
them to give way in the most precipitous manner. Our 
lusty cheers, on seeing this, were answered by the others, 
and, a minute later, by a rattling volley and a wild hurrah 
from the mountain side. The latter seemed to have fairly 
demoralized our foes, for they broke away from our front 



180 SFORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

panic-stricken, and fled beyond the range of our rifles in 
a few moments. When we saw this we returned to our 
horses, and, mounting them in the twinkling of an eye, 
dashed to the left, and got several shots at some braves 
who were trying to escape from the forest, and these 
forced them back again, when they were received by other 
volleys delivered by concealed foes. Every Indian who 
was killed on foot was no sooner struck than he gave a 
wild yell, jumped high into the air, then fell back dead. 
These preliminaries to dying are, I believe, peculiar to the 
red race. 

This attack decided the fate of the day ; for the Indians 
fled in every direction, while we pursued them over hill 
and dale, dropping one every now and then. We were 
in hopes of reaching their camp before they could get it 
away, but in this we were disappointed ; and, when we 
reached there, nothing was left of it but a few old tepees, 
and some poles and peltries which they could not carry 
off in the hurry of their flight. The noise of the firing 
had evidently warned the squaws of their danger, and, 
while the warriors were fighting, they took time by the 
forelock and escaped to safer quarters. 

When our party had assembled once more, we found 
that the ten men who had been sent back to the valley re- 
turned on hearing the continuous fusillade, aud, getting in 
rear of the enemy — a feat easily performed owing to the 
wooded character of the hill— had opened such a destruc- 
tive fire on him from cover that he was compelled to re- 
treat in a panic. Our loss in this affair was two men 
killed and eight wounded, while that of the Indians must 
have been four or five times as much, as our rifles were 
far superior to theirs, and our shooting was certainly far 
more accurate. 

As soon as we felt sure that our foe had fled for good, 
a party was sent back to the mining village with the dead 
and wounded, while the remainder started toward the south 
to see what damage had been committed, and to learn if 
the tribe we had been fighting was that which had been 



THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 181 

raiding in that direction. We had not travelled far before 
we came to a smouldering wagon, and beside it we found 
a man and his wife, and, evidently, his two daughters, lying 
dead. They were terribly, unspeakably mutilated, and the 
horrible expressions of their features showed what an ago- 
nizing death they must have suffered. After burying these 
in the rudest manner, to prevent them from being devoured 
by wolves, we moved on, and at every few miles met indi- 
cations of the savage fury of the demons who were scour- 
ing over the country. Every house was burnt, and amidst 
their ashes, or lying in the yards, were the mutilated remains 
of men, women, and children ; not a person being spared, 
from the babe to the gray-haired old man. The scene was 
so sickening, and the destruction so wide-spread, that we 
were compelled to desist and turn our faces homeward ; 
for it was evident, by the numerous tracks of horses' hoofs, 
that there were two bodies of Indians in the field, and that 
the one we were following was much the larger, and could 
not have numbered less than three or four hundred war- 
riors. Fearing they might return through the valley, we 
made all possible haste back to prepare a warm reception 
for them, and, on reaching the mining hamlet once more, 
we found the tallest tree there graced by four dangling 
Sioux, who had been captured while trying to return to 
their own camp. They were evidently those whose tracks 
we had discovered the previous day ; so their summary 
fate was the cause of some rejoicing. 

The village was kept in a state of excitement for a week 
by the reports of scouts and reconnoitring parties, who 
reported the movements of several bodies of Indians that 
were hovering in the woods adjoining the valley on the 
north ; but as they did not come any nearer, hopes were 
entertained that the severe lesson taught them would pre- 
vent any further trouble. Suddenly, one evening, a large 
war-party, driving an immense herd of horses, was report- 
ed to be advancing at a gallop from the east, and every 
available man present, except the camp-guard, went out to 
meet them, and, seeking shelter in a ravine, waited until the 



182 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

painted braves came within rifle-range, when they opened 
a deadly fire on them. This Avas evidently a most unex- 
pected encounter to the red thieves, for they were thrown 
into a momentary panic, but they soon recovered them- 
selves; and while some drove the horses away toward the 
right flank, the others opened a brisk fire to cover their 
retreat, and kept it up for half an hour, when they broke 
away terror-stricken. The cause of their flight was soon 
made evident by the appearance of a body of cavalry who 
had been pursuing them for several days; and on seeing 
these, the miners and ranchers ran from cover, mounted 
their horses, and dashed after the foe. A running fight 
was kept up for three miles, when a vigorous charge from 
opposite quarters finished the contest by scattering the In- 
dians in every direction, and forcing them to leave nearly 
all their plunder behind. The captured horses were driven 
toward the village, while the cavalry pursued the fugitives, 
and kept them running until they sought the shelter of the 
Wind River Mountains, sadly depleted in numbers, and 
perfectly demoralized. I received, as the result of my coy- 
ote-hunt and subsequent Indian hunt, a slight flesh-wound 
in the side, and two months of as hard campaigning as any 
person would care to have; and these have so indelibly 
marked that chase in my mind, that I doubt if I shall soon 
forget it. 

One of the most exciting, interesting, and laughable 
hunts after the coyote that I ever enjoyed came off on the 
great plains of the Columbia River, east of the Cascade 
Range. The region in which it occurred afforded ample 
scope for testing the pace, endurance, and cunning of the 
long- tailed quadruped, and also the sagacity of its very 
near and dear kindred, the Indian cur; for the former is 
frequently the size of the latter, and the tw r o are more like- 
ly to play with each other than to quarrel, unless hounded 
on by man, or the coyote is too intrusive in its familiarity. 
I have known even the civilized dogs of the feminine gen- 
der, belonging to the pale-faces, to pay visits of courtesy 
and good-fellowship to the prairie roamers, and play with 



THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 183 

them by the hour; and, when the visit was returnee!, the 
guests were treated with becoming kindness and consider- 
ation. This would seem to be a proof positive that both 
species consider themselves close kindred ; for I have nev- 
er seen the domestic dogs display the same feelings toward 
the large gray wolf, and a fox was perfectly abhorrent in 
their sight. 

Some of the Indian dogs resemble coyotes so much that 
it would be hard to distinguish which is which by form 
and color, and often in habits ; and even the known half- 
breeds seem more inclined to take after the sire than the 
dam in every way. The latter have a keen nose, and, when 
trained, make excellent hunting - dogs ; but they are not 
much in a tussle with a wild animal, and are anything but 
playfully sociable and affectionate with their human mas- 
ters or their families. 

On the occasion to which I refer, the hunt was organized 
for the purpose of enjoying a national holiday, clearing 
the coyotes out of a region in which they were becoming 
too numerous to be agreeable acquaintances of some of the 
denizens of the farm -yard, and to afford visitors a day's 
amusement. I stopped at the house selected for a rendez- 
vous, and before daylight of the hunting morning was 
aroused from a sound sleep by a thundering knock at the 
door, the stamping of horses, the growling and fighting of 
dogs, and the strong language of men who were yelling at 
the combatants. These early arrivals being admitted, they 
were followed in such rapid succession by others that fif- 
teen had assembled by five o'clock, and they were accom- 
panied by as motley a lot of dogs as could possibly be got 
together. After a hearty though hasty breakfast, which 
was often interrupted by yells at the canine combatants, 
we mounted our steeds and started for cover at a good 
trot. The snarling pack, as they moved along, presented a 
sorry appearance, and looked perfect specimens of what a 
Falstaffian canine regiment ought to be. There were sheep- 
dogs, curs, mongrel pointers and setters, terriers, mastiffs, 
Newfoundlands, and hounds of all kinds and crosses, from 



184 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

the thorough-bred harrier to the half-blooded greyhound, 
besides the oi polloi of the dog world generally, whose 
family no one could make out. This miscellaneous rabble 
seemed to think that they were assembled for the special 
purpose of fighting, so they went at it vigorously whenever 
they had the opportunity. Were it not for the pace at 
which they were moving, and the many yells and curses 
hurled at them by their owners, half of them would evi- 
dently have been killed before we reached our destination. 

A trot of three or four miles brought us to a scrubby 
coppice, in which firs, cotton- woods, alders, and willows 
were mingled together in confusion. Adjoining this was 
a stream, and back of it rose a series of the low terraces so 
characteristic of the trappean regions of the Pacific Coast. 
One of the party, who had two mongrel hounds that were 
used for hunting anything, from the bear and deer to a 
wild-cat, and which were said to be excellent " smellers," 
was appointed Master of the Hunt, out of respect to his 
dogs ; and he, pleased with his new honor, went proudly 
forward with his pack and began to beat the excuse for a 
wood downward, while others took positions to the wind- 
ward to check any movements in that direction by the 
quarry. A half-bred Indian, who was supposed to know 
more about coyotes than they did themselves, took all the 
dogs that he could induce to follow him to a treeless vale 
below the coppice ; but his followers were evidently bent 
more on fighting than hunting, for our ears were soon re- 
galed with snarling, growling, and yells, and the "cussing" 
of a disgusted whipper-in. 

I had taken a position to the leeward of the vale with a 
party of four, who had half a dozen dogs with them that 
no amount of coaxing and patting could induce to leave 
the heels of their masters, and there we waited patiently 
for half an hour; but hearing no sound that indicated 
work, .an impatient member of the group started off him- 
self, stating that he could find a coyote quicker than all the 
assembled canine multitude. His assertion proved perfect- 
ly correct ; for he was gone scarcely ten minutes before 



THE FliAllUE WOLF. 185 

two ocbreous-colored objects were seen stealing out of a 
barrow in the open ground a little way below us, as if they 
thought themselves too modest to face such a large com- 
pany as ours. Their presence was a signal for a fierce 
veil of delight, and away went our party after them. This 
caused the prowlers to think we had some sinister designs 
against them, and to consider the enthusiasm of our greet- 
ing too demonstrative for their sensitive nature; so. they 
gave a startled look of surprise, which lasted for a few 
seconds, and feeling assured that they were the great cen- 
tre of attraction, became alarmed, and sped away at their 
best pace. The dogs, assuming that something was up, 
began to bark loudly ; but when they were " hied " on they 
fancied that it was the signal to commence fighting, and 
at it they went, now rolling over and over each other, then 
breaking loose in order to overtake their masters. Two 
mongrels, which were too cautious to fight and too fleet 
of foot to be captured by the bullies, espied the runaways, 
and after them they went with sharp yelps. The quarries 
being checked to the leeward, headed up wind ; but they 
had not gone far before they were stopped by another par- 
ty of horsemen and their dogs. This forced them to take 
a middle course, so they bent their footsteps toward a se- 
ries of wave-like hillocks that stretched far away to the 
north. Horses and dogs were now in full pursuit, and it 
was hard to tell whether the latter or the men made the 
most noise, for all were yelling or yelping. The chase led 
over the hillocks for a mile or two, then into a narrow val- 
ley, and up this the hunted turned their noses. This gave 
us a splendid chance for a run, and we resolved to utilize 
it, as we had no fleet dogs to bring them to bay. Putting 
spurs to our steeds, each individual now made a race of it, 
as every one was anxious to claim the first brush. 

We had a good run of two miles or more over this pret- 
ty vale, when the coyotes again changed their course sud- 
denly, and broke over the hills with, apparently, an army of 
dogs in pursuit. They had, in fact, almost run into an In- 
dian village, and had, as a result, brought the large canine 



186 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

force, which always accompanies the red men, after them. 
The new pursuers were fresh ; the coyotes were getting 
tired and scared ; and the consequence was that they were 
soon overtaken and killed by their own nearest relatives, 
that follow man in his wanderings. The inglorious ending 
of our chase was a cause of much regret, as many were 
panting for the honor of wearing the runaway brushes. 
Having excommunicated all Indian curs in vigorous anath- 
emas, our cavalcade returned toward the stream, as several 
of the party and the best dogs were left there ; but before 
we had proceeded three miles we saw a dozen coyotes 
hastening rapidly away to safer quarters. A little farther 
on we met one at bay, a mongrel greyhound having over- 
taken it. When we rode up our dogs joined their com- 
rade at once, and in two or three minutes a brush graced 
the saddle-bow of one of our party. As our horses were 
somewhat tired, we did not care to run them for awhile, so 
we jogged back to cover, and passed the time away by dis- 
cussing the merits of dogs and horses. Some of the hunts- 
men were exceedingly angry at their dogs for their bad 
behavior and slowness of foot, and several, which were the 
most knowing and famous of their race in the world in the 
morning, according to the assertions of their owners, lost 
their character by that run, and were deemed worthless for 
coyote-hunting at least. 

On approaching the stream, we saw some of our party 
on the hills above standing around in an attitude of expec- 
tation, and heard the cries of the two famous hounds — an 
indication that they had something in view. This caused 
us to scatter, in hopes that we might be fortunate enough 
to get a shot at anything started. I moved some distance 
to the leeward, and waited there patiently for half an hour; 
and my patience was soon rewarded, for a coyote came 
sweeping by me less than fifty yards away. As mustangs 
can jump into a gallop from a stand-still, I went in full 
pursuit at once; and so well did my cayuse ply his legs 
that I was soon within a distance that enabled me to use 
a revolver. To hit a small object in rapid flight is no small 



THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 18* 

difficulty, even with a rifle, but to shoot it with a revolver 
is a matter of great difficulty, unless by accident ; hence I 
must confess that I nearly emptied mine on the fugitive, 
and that it was only when I was close along- side that I 
tumbled it over with the last shot. A large pocket-knife 
ended its fate, and, slinging it over my saddle, I rode back 
to rejoin my comrades. None were in sight in any direc- 
tion, however; and as I did not know the way home very 
well, I began to move in the direction where I supposed it 
was. After riding two or three miles, I met the entire par- 
ty making preparations to go in search of me ; but, seeing 
me in the flesh, they concluded to have another run if possi- 
ble, for coyotes were more abundant than they expected, or 
even cared for. Moving toward the small vale over which 
we had enjoyed the first run, the hounds were set to work, 
and they soon gave tongue. A little later, and we saw some 
coyotes break cover near a rivulet, and after them we went, 
though at a rather slow rate, as dogs and horses were get- 
ting pumped. While moving forward at a heedless pace, 
we were almost startled out of our wits by seeing charg- 
ing toward us in full cry a troop of mounted Indians. 

We halted at once, not knowing what to make of the 
incident, and prepared for trouble, as Ave supposed that it 
was a war-party belonging to some tribe that had " broken 
loose" without a knowledge of the fact having come to our 
ears. Some of us had empty revolvers, and these we load- 
ed at once, and dashed out of the valley and on to a knoll, 
without waiting for a moment to consider the character of 
the approaching cloud, except that it was not composed of 
whites ; and having gained a position from which we could 
run or fight, we halted to reconnoitre. Our fears were 
soon dispelled, however; for no less a personage than an 
individual named Snake Jim, a sub-chief of the Snake tribe, 
rode up toward us suddenly as if he had risen out of the 
ground, and after a cheery " how !" informed us that some 
of the young braves of the village, who belonged to the 
Snake reservation, and had learned from the whites to have 
no fear of the "bad medicine" of the coyote, wanted to join 



1S8 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAli WEST. 

in the bunt if there was no objection. He was positively 
informed that they would be welcome ; and being re-en- < 
forced by about twenty braves and an army of their curs, 
we resumed our sport. Jim said he knew where there 
were several coyotes, and, under his guidance, we went to 
seek them. 

A ride of two miles brought us to a deeply buried dell 
that was surrounded by huge basaltic bowlders, and in 
which hares seemed to be unusually numerous. Dividing 
our forces there, the red men occupied one position and 
the whites another. The dogs were then sent in, and they 
soon sent out two dozen coyotes, it seemed to me, and after 
them we all dashed right and left. The dogs were yelping, 
the Indians yelling, and using their bows and arrows, and 
the whites were shouting and firing their revolvers. The 
whole scene was one of excitement and wild hurrah, and 
reminded me of a sharp and close cavalry skirmish. Some 
of the men were "hieing" on their dogs; some got thrown 
by running their horses through the villages of ground- 
squirrels, and got heartily laughed at for their misfortune ; 
while others were shouting at the red men to keep out of 
the way. It was a scene of fun and confusion, and the con- 
fusion was increased by the antipathy of the civilized dogs 
to their more barbarous brethren, and the efforts they 
made to hunt them instead of the coyotes. The riding 
and yelling and yelping was fast and furious, until four of 
the fugitives were killed by the Indians and three by our 
party; and having run by that time about six miles, we 
concluded to stop for the day, owing to the condition of 
our horses, and the fact that the coyotes were scared away 
from the neighborhood. During the last run the poor 
creatures were rushing madly through the canine lines in 
their effort to escape; but wherever they turned they met 
new foes in large numbers, so that those which got away 
were compelled to fight bravely for their liberty. We 
could have killed several more during the day if we wish- 
ed, for they were scattered all over the country in small 
groups; but, our purpose having been accomplished, we 



THE PRAIRIE WOLF. 191 

| returned homo, well satisfied with our day's sport. On the 
way back we called at the small Indian village of mats ; 
Ind I noticed there that many of the dogs running about 
were perfect fac-sim.iles of the coyotes in all but color, and 
even barked so much like them that it would be hard to 
distinguish which was which. I learned there, also, that 
the coyotes frequently associated with Indian dogs at cer- 
tain seasons, and that the products were wary, thieving, 
timid creatures, but often excellent animals for hunting 
game, and especially their own ancestors. Some of the 
best dogs in the country for mute hunting are these mon- 
grels, and, if well trained, they are said to be invaluable. 

Leaving the encampment, we wended our way home- 
ward, and, after a pleasant evening with song and story, I 
retired to bed thoroughly tired, and highly pleased with 
the day's amusement. The pursuit of this animal, which 
is faster than any fox, will, no doubt, be fashionable in a 
few years, when gentlemen with sporting proclivities enter 
the country, and the sons of those now residing there learn 
to appreciate the pleasure it affords. 



192 SRURTINQ ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE BUFFALO. 

The Buffalo. — Number of Species. — Difference between Them. — The gi- 
gantic Buffalo of prehistoric Times. — Fierce Aspect of the modern Bi- 
son. — Courage of the Male. — Social Character of the Species. — Motherd 
have Li-ttle Affection for the Calves. — Fight between a Grizzly Bear 
and a Small Herd of Bulls. — A Bull rescues a Calf from a Pack of 
Wolves. — Another tries to protect a Cow from a Hunter. — A New 
Mode of capturing Calves. — Buffaloes in a State of Domestication. — 
Favorite Habitat of the Buffalo.- — Character of the Buffalo Grass. — 
Sufferings of the Animals in Winter from Hunger. — Why Old Bulls 
leave the Herds. — Use of the Buffalo to the Indians. — The Flesh of the 
Buffalo. — A Custom of the West. — How the Wolverine feasts on dried 
Buffalo Meat. — Cunning and Courage. — Pemmiean. — The most Deli- 
cate Parts of the Buffalo. — Cows better than Bulls. — Vitality of the 
Animals. — Best Weapons for hunting Them. — American Horses versus 
Mustangs. — Opinion of Old Hunters. — Faults of Mustangs in running 
Buffaloes. — The Various Systems employed for killing the Buffalo. — 
Great Annual Slaughter of the Animal. — Indians dressed in Wolf-skins 
attack the Buffalo. — Why they use Arrows instead of Fire-arms. — Hunts 
of the Half-breeds of British America.— Mean Devices of the Whites. 
— How Thousands are destroyed Annually. — The Camp and the Night 
Alarm. — Shooting at Antelopes.— Stalking Buffalo Skulls. — Gambols 
of Herds. — A Dash after a Herd, and what came of it. — An Alarm of 
Indians. — Opinions of a Party of Teutons about Jokes. — The Result to 
me of my Day's hunting. — A Spirited Chase in the Republican Valley. 
— Wolves and Number of Quarries killed. — A Thousand Hunters and 
Thousands of Buffaloes in Motion at the same Time. — Howling Wolves 
and bellowing Bisons. — An Alarm of Sioux. — The Retreat. — Panic- 
stricken Pawnees. 

The bison, or American buffalo {Bos americanus), is 
now confined to a few regions extending from British 
America to New Mexico, but it is nowhere abundant com- 
pared to what it was. 

There are supposed to be two distinct species of the ani- 
mal, namely, the common one which frequents the prairies, 
and the wood, or mountain buffalo, which is never seen on 



TEE BUFFALO. 193 

the plains, and cannot be induced to leave its forest home. 
The latter, according to Hind, is not uncommon north of 
the Saskatchewan region ; but in the United States it is 
confined to the wooded mountainous regions of Montana, 
Dakota, Colorado, and Idaho. It differs from its lowland 
congener in being much heavier in body, having shorter 
and more robust legs, a soft and uncurled mane, a softer 
and finer pelage, and having the bump of cautiousness 
more largely developed, so that it is not unlike the Lithu- 
anian aurochs. It can pick its way amidst crags and 
chasms with an agility worthy of a goat, and with much 
greater ease than one would give it credit for. Owing 
to the wild and sometimes inaccessible character of its 
haunts, it is not hunted much, so that little is known of its 
habits ; but they do not vary much, in all probability, from 
those of its better known kindred, the difference being such 
as a person would expect to find between animals whose 
haunts are so totally distinct. 

An adult male Of the common species is about six feet 
high at the fore-shoulders ; measures from eight to eight 
and a half feet in length ; the horns are between twelve 
and thirteen inches in length, and the tail about twenty; 
and when the animal is in good condition it frequently 
weighs two thousand pounds, but the ordinary weight is 
between twelve and sixteen hundred pounds. Large and 
heavy as it is, it cannot compare with the prehistoric species 
of the West; forjudging from the fossil remains found, 
that must have been seven or eight times its size, and, if 
everything was in proportion, must have weighed several 
thousand pounds. 

If Nimrods chased it, they must have been giants in- 
deed, and worthy contemporaries of the mastodons, gigan- 
tic elephants, turtles, sloths, and other huge animals that 
roamed over the earth in the misty past. 

The modern bison would be a good example to prove 
that appearances are often deceiving; for the novice, on 
gazing at its ponderous proportions, its large head covered 
with thick, matted hair, its shaggy mane a foot long, its 

9 



194 



SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



sullen demeanor, its wicked eyes, which seem to glow into 
an emerald fire with rage and hate, and its sharp-pointed j 
horns, would be apt to consider it one of the most danger- 
ous of quadrupeds; yet the reverse is the case; for, unless 
wounded or cornered, it is one of the mildest, most harm- 
less, and stupid animals on the continent. The only time 
in which it is liable to assume the offensive is during the 
rutting season, in July; for it is then exceedingly petulant, 
and the temper of the males is not soothed by their fre- 
quent though generally bloodless contests, and their long 







A.UJSU1UAN BISON. 



fasts, for wooing occupies the greater portion of their at- 
tention. They are more afraid of man than any other foe; 
and while they will take little notice of the wolf, cougar, or 
grizzly bear, one sniff of the former will cause thousands of 
them to flee for miles at their best pace. The males are by 
no means deficient in courage ; for they will boldly attack 
a grizzly, and, if their horns are not blunted by rooting in 
the ground, are able to place that monarch of the Western 
wilds hors de combat occasionnllv. 



THE BUFFALO. 195 

The social character of the bison is much like that of the 
domestic cattle. It is gregarious in habit, and travels in 
herds which have been estimated to contain over one hun- 
dred thousand individuals, and to cover an extensive plain 
so thickly that it looked almost one mass of black dots at 
a distance. The herds are not so large now as they for- 
merly were, yet they may, in some regions, still be com- 
pared to the "cattle on a thousand hills;" and few grander 
sights can be witnessed than to behold them in herds of 
many hundreds, moving north or south during their annual 
migrations. 

The females commence bearing when three years old, and 
continue to be prolific up to an old age. They produce 
only one calf at a time, and drop that generally in April, 
though I have seen some in July that did not look to be 
more than two or three weeks old. 

The mothers seem to have little affection for their 
young, and generally desert them at the first alarm; but 
the males are sturdy protectors, and carefully guard them 
from all foes. Calves run with their mothers until the lat- 
ter are ready to increase the bovine population again, and 
after that they look out for themselves. When the females 
are about to become mothers they retire from the herd 
singly, and secrete themselves in some refuge where the 
young may be protected from wolves and other foes until 
they are able to run about ; and when -that time comes 
they rejoin the males, and the united company stroll over 
many long miles together. 

When a herd is feeding, the cows and calves are in the 
centre, and the old bulls occupy the outer spaces, as if they 
intended to make an abatis of their horns to repel all ad- 
versaries. How effective a protection this abatis is, the 
wolves, which constantly attend the herds in large numbers, 
to see if they can pick up a calf or a wounded adult, know 
too well, for they never attempt to force it; and that the 
buffaloes consider it impregnable is evident by the con- 
tempt with which they treat their hungry attendants, and 
the closeness to which they will allow them to approach 






196 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

before they attempt to send them scampering away by a 
mere threat or a vigorous charge. Even a hungry griz- 
zly has learned how dangerous it is, and has given its life 
as a forfeit for its ignorance and presumption. I heard 
an old hunter in Dakota relate how a male grizzly once at- 
tacked a herd in his presence. The huge bear commenced 
operations by boldly advancing toward a small herd of 
cows which was protected only by five or six bulls, the re- 
mainder of the stern sex being assembled in bachelor par- 
ties by themselves in other portions of the plain. As he i 
approached the herd, the males closed up together, to make 
a protecting screen for those under their charge, and low- I 
ered their sharp-pointed horns almost to the ground. The 
grizzly halted to gaze at the reception prepared for him, 
and, after sniffing the air and gazing for a few moments, he 
concluded that he had little to fear, and advanced boldly to 
the assault. Before he reached the herd the most daring 
of the bulls charged him fearlessly ; but ere he could reach 
him with his horns the bear struck him a powerful blow 
along the back with his huge paws, and killed him immedi- 
ately by breaking the spinal' column. Nothing daunted at 
the fate of their companion, the others charged vigorously, 
but two of them were overpowered in less than three min- 
utes. The survivors plied their horns to such good ad- 
vantage, however, that their powerful assailant was glad to 
crawl away with broken ribs and protruding viscera, only 
to fall a victim to the hunter. 

The same man told me that he saw a pack of wolves 
chasing a young calf, apparently about two months old, on 
one occasion, and that the poor creature was so weak from 
loss of blood and hard running that it must soon have fall- 
en a prey to its merciless pursuers had its life not been 
saved by a splendid bull, which charged down so suddenly 
upon the hungry throng that he hurled one of them into 
the air with a vehemence that killed it when it returned to 
earth, and caused the remainder to scamper away with the 
utmost celerity, as if they wei'e panic-stricken. He then 
escorted his young charge away, and, although the prowl- 



THE BUFFALO. 197 

ers followed them, they took excellent care not to go too 
near for fear of the consequences. The two had not trav- 
elled far before they met a herd, and this they joined, the 
youngster taking its place in the middle with the cows and 
calves. It is no unusual incident for wounded buffaloes to 
be protected from wolves by those that are not; and the 
bulls are certainly entitled to be classed in some charac- 
teristics with the knights of old, who fought for love, not 
gold. I saw a bull come to the aid of a wounded cow that 
was being pursued by a horseman, run with her for a mile 
or two, and change sides whenever the pursuer did, as if 
he would guard her from all danger. His gallautry would 
have been rewarded but for the fact that his companion 
was so badly injured that she could not live, and the hunt- 
er thought it better to kill her than leave her to be wor- 
ried to death by wolves.' Even cows show courage occa- 
sionally, especially if assembled in numbers, and boldly 
charge wolves that may threaten themselves or their young. 
I knew one to dash after a hunter who was trying to lasso 
her calf, and he only escaped her horns by killing her with 
a lucky shot just as she was about attacking him. It is a 
common idea among hunters that the cows have little af- 
fection for their calves, and that they will desert them in a 
moment if threatened by any danger. While this is gen- 
erally true, yet there are some notable exceptions ; and any 
person who has ever seen a mother lick and fondle her 
young one must know she has a deep feeling for it. I 
have known a cow which left her calf in a little dell come 
bounding and bellowing about our party to see if we had 
captured it, and, when she did not find it, go dashing back 
again in a state of the greatest excitement, and bellowing 
loudly for it. 

A mother has even been known to charge headlong into 
a small valley in which her young one was concealed, on 
finding a hunter there, and cause him to run for his life ; 
and another not only charged a body of mounted hunters, 
on suspicion that they had stolen her calf, but dashed 
wildly up and down, and circled round a flying column 



198 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

containing at least five thousand buffaloes, thinking it 
might be among them. When she could not find it, she 
fled over the plains in a crazed state, and uttered piteous 
calls for her darling at intervals ; but no answer came 
back to her until she had disappeared over a hill in the 
horizon. Whatever may be said about their affection, it 
is certaiuly true that they are very careless mothers; for 
they leave their young without any hesitation in exposed 
situations, where they are liable to be attacked at any mo- ' 
raent by wolves, and in this way many of them are destroy- 
ed annually; for the lupine prowlers are always vigilant, 
ready to eat at all hours of the day or night, and miss no 
opportunity of killing a young one even though they are 
not hungry. The calves themselves seem also to be very 
stupid creatures; for, instead of dashing off to join the 
herds and claim their protection, they frequently, especial- 
ly if a little tired, merely poke their nose into a bunch of 
grass, and because they themselves cannot see, they fancy 
they are perfectly concealed from all foes. This idea is 
soon rudely banished, however, by the sudden onslaught 
of ravenous wolves, or the rifle and lariat of the hunter. 

Lassoing calves is most interesting sport, as the creatures 
run well, course like a hare, and, when hard pressed, boldly 
charge the horses or riders, and even attempt to pierce 
them with their sharp but tiny horns; and, even when 
captured, they buck and plunge so violently that the at- 
tempt to lead them to a rendezvous is most amusing. 
Calves not older than a month or two will readily follow 
a horseman if they are separated from their dams; but 
when they get beyond that age they are too knowing not 
to distinguish the difference between their own kindred 
and the steed. Hunters who Avish to obtain calves for 
menageries or private persons often resort to this method 
of capture, as the animals are more likely to live than if 
they were driven hard for several miles before being las- 
soed ; and it is said that if a person breathes into their 
nostrils when they are caught they become tame at once, 
and will follow his horse for several miles like a dosr. I 



THE BUFFALO. 199 

have kuown them to follow horsemen out of a herd after 
,1 short run, and trot behind them for several miles with- 
out making an effort to escape. 

Thousands of them are captured alive annually by being 
run down with horses, but the greater number die, owing 
to the severe manner in which they were chased, or else to 
their grief at being separated from their kindred and the 
nutritious grasses and freedom of the plains. I have seen 
a troop of cavalry lasso one hundred of them in two days, 
and bring them to the barracks ; and although they had 
plenty of room in a corral to run about, and an abundance 
of hay and grass, few of them lived more than a week. 
The same mortality was noticeable among those captured 
hy expert lassoers and regular hunters ; so it is evident 
that they cannot stand much hardship. 

The calves can be domesticated readily, if treated kind- 
ly; and when the bulls reach adult age they are said to be 
as good as oxen for ploughing, but they have the great 
fault of being stubborn ; and when once they take it into 
their heads to go in a certain direction, nothing can pre- 
vent them except a wall or a bullet. One or two genera- 
tions of domestication might break them of this habit, 
however, and they could then be made into valuable beasts 
of burden, while the cows would prove a valuable addition 
to the farm-yard. My own opinion is that the buffalo can 
be tamed easily, and vastly improved in physique, strength, 
and edible qualities, by careful feeding ; for, in a wild state, 
its flesh is rather flavorless, and the stateliest bull cannot 
compete in power or pugnacity with one of his domestic 
congeners scarcely one-half his weight or age. The wild- 
bull, that is, the domestic species, run wild, can defeat any 
two buffaloes in ten minutes, and a herd of wild cattle 
can drive twenty times their number of buffaloes in a very 
short time. 

From experiments made in New Jersey, Virginia, Texas, 
and other portions of the United States, it has been found 
that the buffalo can be domesticated without much trouble, 
that its flesh can be greatly improved, and that the milk 



200 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

of the cow is rich and sweet, and yields more cream than 
almost any of the farm -yard species. The hide of the 
buffalo is also four times as valuable as that of the domes- 
tic race, and, by careful feeding, the fur is made longer 
and finer than it is when the animal runs wild. There is 
no doubt that the buffalo can be made a most valuable 
addition to our domestic animals, and it is rather a pity 
that some persons do not try it, and keep it from totally 
disappearing. 

I have heard that buffalo bulls associate freely with do- 
mestic cows, and that their offspring is large and hardy, 
that their flesh is excellent, that the females are good milk- 
ers, and that they can be kept easily, as they are indiscrim- 
inate feeders, and anything but dainty in palate. Whether 
the cross would prove prolific is another question, but the 
probability is that it would, by paying careful attention to 
the laws of breeding. The cross is said to be very stub- 
born, however; but this fault could, no doubt, be eradi- 
cated without much trouble. 

If the buffalo of India can be made useful to man, there 
is little doubt that its American congener also can ; hence 
its domestication should be attempted by wealthy private 
gentlemen, stock-raisers, and even small farmers, and they 
would undoubtedly find their efforts crowned with suc- 
cess. Any pasture will answer its purpose, for it will 
thrive where any of the bovine species more dainty in 
appetite than a Texas steer would starve; and as it asso- 
ciates readily with the domestic species, it requires no un- 
usual care. 

The favorite habitat of the animal in its wild state is a 
rolling plain, where a short but very nutritious species of 
the Gramince, known locally as the buffalo grass, grows in 
profusion. This is the most pugnacious grass known, for 
it will allow no rivals to intrude on its ground; but if 
they do, they are soon crowded out of existence. Like 
the bunch grass {Festucca scabrella), of which the buffalo 
is also fond, it cures on the stalk, and so affords pabulum 
to large numbers of quadrupeds throughout the year, for it 



THE BUFFALO. 



201 



is really the only thing they can depend on for food dur- 
ing the winter. The buffaloes that frequent the northern 
regions obtain it in winter by scraping away the snow; 
but during severe seasons, when the snow is deep and the 
crust hard, they cannot get at it, and the result is that 
many thousands starve to death. This is one of the rea- 
sons for their decimation, as much almost as their wanton 




THE HEED MOVING TOWARD WATER. 



slaughter by Indians, hide -hunters, and sportsmen. It is 
pitiful to hear the deep, gruff bellowing of the poor creat- 
ures then, as they wander over the snow-fields in search 
of food, or rush wildly about when almost mad with hun- 
ger. 

A stranger who never saw a buffalo ground would know 
it immediately by the number of wallows it contains, and 

9* 



202 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

the numerous skulls that lie about in every direction. The 
latter are so deceptive that I have more than once mis- 
taken them at a distance for living animals, and wasted 
valuable time in carefully stalking them. When this er- 
ror has been committed a few times, however, a person 
learns to be more cautious and less enthusiastic, and to be 
sure that he is not laboring under a mistake before com- 
mencing his stealthy, crawling, and often fatiguing "still- 
hunt," 

The wallows, according to Catlin, are made by the 
strongest bulls for the purpose of enjoying a bath. A 
veteran with ponderous horns, on reaching a spot where 
the earth seems damp, lowers himself on one knee, and 
plunging his horns, and at last his head, into the ground, 
makes an excavation into which the water filters from 
among the grass, forming for him, in a few minutes, a cool 
and comfortable bath, into which he plunges like a hog 
in its mire. Throwing himself flat upon his side in this 
delightful hole, he forces himself violently around, and, 
ploughing up the ground by his rotary motion, sinks 
deeper and deeper into the ground. Having cooled his 
sides, he stands in the pool till inclination induces him to 
step out, and give place to the next in power; and in this 
maimer the whole herd pass through in turn, each one 
swinging its body around in a similar manner. When all 
have finished their bath, the hole is quite deep, and, once 
seen, its origin will always be known. It is evident that 
this excavating propensity must soon destroy the sharp- 
ness of the horns of the sturdier bulls, especially if the soil 
is of a stony nature; so that they have to yield their su- 
premacy in a short time to the younger bulls, which have 
appendages with sharper points. It is supposed that the 
veterans are driven out of a herd by their jealous juniors, 
when their horns become too blunt to fight to good ad- 
vantage ; but this I should deduce to be a fallacy, inas- 
much as the natural characteristic of the animals is to be 
social and peaceable. The actual reason why these old 
hermits quit their companions and seek comfort in soli- 



THE BUFFALO. 203 

tude might be attributed to the waning or failure of their 
salacious disposition ; for some of them look as if they 
entertained the sentiment, in a bovine form, that their only 
books were the cow's looks, and folly was all they taught 
them. I hope the spirit of Moore will pardon me for 
thus transposing and applying his rollicking ditty ; but I 
thought it so appropriate to the circumstances that I could 
not help using it. These hermits are the specimens on 
which the wolves delight to dance attendance ; yet they 
take excellent care to avoid their horns unless they are 
ill, or so decrepit as to be unable to make a strong resist- 
ance. Even when in vigorous condition, they sometimes 
yield their life to their gray foes, as the latter cut their 
hamstring by a sudden bound, and, once that is severed, 
they are soon transformed into wolf-meat. 

Next to the lupine prowler, the Indian is the greatest 
lover of the buffalo ; and no wonder, for to him it is house, 
food, clothing, and fire. Its flesh furnishes him with food; 
its skin with wigwams, lariats, reins, robes, and raiment ; 
its dung — the well-known bois cle vache of the Canadian 
voyageurs 'and half-breeds, and the "chips" of the plains- 
men — with fire; and its bones often supply him with ar- 
row-tips and other implements of the chase. 

The statement so frequently made that the red man and 
the buffalo will disappear together is certainly true in a 
particular sense; for when the latter becomes so scarce as 
not to be able to supply the wants of the former, he will 
have to devote his attention to farming or stock-raising 
to obtain a means of subsistence ; and as he cannot, or will 
not, do either of these, he must become a pensioner of the 
Government, and the result will be speedy starvation, or a 
war in which he will be decimated. In that case we shall 
know the typical Indian no more ; and instead of the fierce, 
treacherous, and cruel brave, we shall have a sneaking, beg- 
ging, poor wretch, who will, at an early day, be placed in 
the soil where his rude forefathers sleep, and his race will 
no longer be known on earth. The flesh of the buffalo has 
been the principal, one might say the sole, food of many 



204 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

thousands of Indians, half-breeds, tvappers, and voyageurs 
for many years ; and considering their thoughtlessness and 
their wanton destruction of all game at times, a person 
might wonder how it happens that the buffalo is so numer- 
ous as it is. 

What these people do not eat fresh they dry, or make 
into pemmican. The drying process is simple enough. A 
number of poles, about four feet high, and having a crotch 
at the top, is inserted in the ground, and on these are 
placed light boughs, to make a platform. Under this plat- 
form, and about the middle, a shallow trench is dug, which 
is filled with green wood, so as to make as much smoke as 
possible. The flesh is next sliced off the carcass in long 
strips about two inches wide, and from half an inch to an 
inch in thickness, and is placed on the frame, after being 
immersed for a few seconds in boiling brine ; but if salt 
is scarce the meat is dried without it. When the staging 
is carefully and evenly covered with the strips, the fire is 
lighted, and kept burning for two or three days, but never 
so brightly as to do more than make a dense smoke, as it is 
the dry air and sun that really cures the meat, and not the 
fire; for the sole purpose of the latter is to keep flies away, 
and to lessen the effect of the night dew. If ants appear, 
the upright poles are greased, and this causes them to re- 
treat in a short time. The meat is often cured by merely 
hanging it on the boughs of trees, or on frames in long 
strips, and turning it around occasionally for two or three 
days. These platforms are frequently met with in the 
hunting regions frequented by Indians and half-breeds; 
and if they contain any pabulum, the wayfarer is permit- 
ted to take all he wants for present necessities but to 
pocket none for future use, for such is the recognized cus- 
tom of the land. 

The stages are frequented at all times by wolves, and 
sometimes by wild -cats, but they seldom get any of the 
contents. There is one creature, however, which is fortu- 
nate enough to feast off the stores, and that is the wolver- 
ene, one of the most daring, courageous, and cunning ani- 



THE BUFFALO. 205 

raals in the world. Instead of wasting its time in sniffing 
and sighing, or trying to climb the thin, upright stakes, it 
quietly goes to work and cuts a number of them down with 
the dexterity and rapidity of the beaver, its sharp teeth 
enabling it to do this in the course of a few hours. When 
several posts are cut away, the platform and its contents 
tumble down, and the wily animal enjoys a feast that would 
cause a hungry wolf to go into ecstasies. Should the latter 
attempt to become a participator of the good things pro- 
cured by the other, however, it pays dearly for its presump- 
tion, for the wolverene allows nothing except its own kin- 
dred to be self-invited to its board. It is probably the 
most cunning animal on the continent, and a fox or a wolf 
is only a sucking dove compared to it. It defies traps, and, 
no matter how carefully a hunter may secure his bait, it 
will probably be taken away, and no result left for it. 
Meat buried deep under the snow for safe-keeping is stolen 
with a promptitude and ability that defies detection; but 
the experienced hunter knows at once who is the thief, and 
frequently does not attempt to follow in pursuit, for he 
knows how useless it would be. 

This Western robber and glutton is a peculiar-looking 
creature belonging to the Ifustelidce, and is the largest of 
the genus. It is not unlike a polecat in form, but it is 
much heavier and more ungainly. It has a large head, 
which is carried somewhat lower than the upper portion of 
the body; the legs are short and massive; the tail is of 
medium length, black and bushy; the claws are sharp and 
dense; and its fangs are pointed and powerful. I have 
known it to enter a cabin and devour three or four pounds 
of pemmican, and get away from its pursuers, although 
three or four dogs joined in the chase. 

This pemmican, which is made of meat dried, pounded, 
and mixed with melted fat and dried berries, forms the 
principal food of the wandering Indians, hunters, and voy- 
ageurs ; but an inexperienced pale-face would find it a dif- 
ficult matter to eat it with any relish unless he was almost 
starving. It frequently has a rancid taste that is sickening 



206 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

at first; but under the best of conditions it is anything but 
agreeable. I have been forced to eat it for want of some- 
thing better on a few occasions ; but whether it was made 
of the flesh of the mountain sheep, wild goat, or buffalo, it 
seemed to have the same flavor, differing only in various 
degrees of nastiness. The berries which it contains are in- 
tended to give it a sharp, sour taste, to counterbalance the 
nauseousness of the stale fat and the insipidity of the lean 
meat. The flesh of the buffalo is highly prized by some 
amateur sportsmen, on the principle, I suppose, that it is 
considered to have a gamy flavor, and to be therefore a 
dish fit for the gods ; but I could never take kindly to it 
unless it was unusually tender, or I was very hungry. The 
tongue and hump are considered to be the most delicate 
parts, and many sportsmen will not eat any other. They 
do not, however, in my estimation, deserve the encomiums 
bestowed upon them. They are the best parts, it is true, 
but they cannot compare in succulency, flavor, or nutritive 
qualities with a good beefsteak, though I doubt if any 
steak ever tasted so well to a hungry hunter as they do 
after he has been on the prairies a few days or weeks. The 
cows and calves are much more palatable than the bulls ; 
hence, the man who supplies his house with buffalo-meat 
selects them as a first choice whenever he can. They are 
also easier to kill than the males, though they too will of- 
ten carry an enormous load of lead before falling. I have 
known an old bull to be perforated with fourteen bullets, 
and escape after all; and I saw a cow pierced with ten bul- 
lets, which were scattered all over her body, run for three 
miles, and fall only when she broke her leg by treading in 
the hole of a prairie-dog. The head is the worst place to 
aim at, as it is covered with a dense plastron of matted 
hair, -which seems to absorb the ball before it reaches the 
skull, unless the rifle is of heavy calibre, or it is fired at 
close range. A twelve-bore is a capital weapon for buffa- 
lo-shooting, but it seems too inconvenient for use on horse- 
back. In running them, I have found a large revolver a 
good weapon, as it is compact, and will kill readily at close 



THE BUFFALO. 207 

range. The best buffalo-hunters burn the hair on nearly 
every one they slay, so close do they approach, and they 
generally aim for the spinal column or the rihs. The nov- 
ice, in running them, might not do much better than to hit 
them in the fore-shoulder, for that soon causes them to 
halt, as the fore-quarters are so heavy that they cannot be 
sustained long by only one leg; and if wounded in that 
part, the hunter can finish them when he pleases. A very 
necessary element to attain success in hunting the buffalo 
is a fast and courageous horse that can be kept under con- 
trol, and will not lose his head in a stampede or be afraid 
of ranging along-side a herd when it is in motion. For this 
purpose an American horse — as all horses are called that 
do not belong to the Indians, or, rather, that do not come 
under the head of cayuse — is preferable to a mustang, so 
far as my experience goes; for he has greater speed for a 
long run, is more intelligent, more tractable, and will go 
until he drops; whereas the other is liable to bolt at any 
moment, unless very well trained, and will often stop when- 
ever he feels that he has done enough. I have been with 
a party that ran buffaloes for four days, at an average rate 
of fifty miles a day ; and those who rode American horses 
killed more than those who rode mustangs, and their ani- 
mals were also fresher when the run was over. 

I heard of even a better case than this from an army of- 
ficer, who is now on the high-road to fame ; for he told me 
that he had ridden an average of fifty miles a day for ten 
days after buffaloes with two American horses, whereas 
some of his troopers, who were mounted on mustangs, 
could scarcely keep in sight of the herds after the fourth 
or fifth day. The most famous scouts and buffalo-hunters 
that I met in the West were dubious about using pure mus- 
tangs in a long buffalo chase, and I know for a fact that 
those deemed to be the most successful did not employ 
them. I have ridden mustangs in the chase on various oc- 
casions ; but the greatest fault I found with them was their 
propensity to bolt suddenly at a right angle whenever a 
wounded buffalo assumed a threatening attitude ; and if a 



/ 



208 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

person did not know this trick he was liable to be thrown, 
and left to face the fury of a fierce bull, or the hoofs of a 
maddened throng that a precipice could not swerve from 
their heedless course. 

This habit of breaking away the moment a shot is fired 
may have its advantages; but they are more than counter- 
balanced by the disadvantages, and not the least of these 
is that a man does not feel secure of his seat for five min- 
utes together in a headlong dash. Mustangs trained by In- 
dians are also accustomed to run on the right of a herd, 
as that is the most convenient position for the red men in 
shooting their arrows ; but' it is not always so to the pale- 
face, especially if he uses a revolver. 

One of the surest means of bagging a large number of 
buffaloes is to remain about twenty or thirty feet behind 
a herd, so as not to scatter the animals, and rake them for- 
ward, so as to make a three-quartering shot through the 
ribs and lungs; for if a person crowded on them they 
would push away from him laterally, or break up into 
groups, and by this means give him as much trouble to 
tumble over a dozen as it would to kill three times that 
number. If a person has a fast and trained horse, all he 
has to do is to throw the reins on his neck and fire away, 
and he must be a poor shot indeed if he cannot claim sev- 
eral trophies in a run of twenty minutes. Experienced 
hunters kill one almost at every shot, or at least cripple 
them so much that they cannot escape, so are subsequently 
captured. Dr. Carver, the famous rifleman, and probably 
the best buffalo-hunter in the world, has killed sixty-three 
out of a herd in one run, and wounded several more ; and 
it was no uncommon thing for him to kill thirty or forty 
in a run, and select his animals. I have hunted with him 
and other persons in the West, but I never knew one to 
even approach him in killing buffaloes or any other game 
when they were running at full speed. 

The two methods of hunting the buffalo employed in 
the West is to stalk it and run it down on horseback. 
Which is the most sportsmandi 1 N method, sportsmen will 



\ 



THE BUFFALO. 209 

readily discern without any comments. Hungry men and 
hide-hunters generally resort to the former, the true lovers 
of the chase to the latter. By the former system, all one 
has to do is to crawl to the leeward of a herd, taking ad- 
vantage of every rise in the ground, and fire away when a 
good opportunity is presented ; for buffaloes are such stu- 
pid creatures that the greater part of a herd may be de- 
stroyed before the remainder get out of range, provided 
they do not see or wind the hunter. This is how the hide- 
hunters make their enormous hauls, and rid a region of the 
animals in a short time. In a letter which I published in 
a prominent New York journal in September, 1874,1 made 
the following statement about the destruction of the buf- 
falo ; but from what I have learned since, by experience, I 
should be apt to more than sextuple my estimate, and still 
be within the bounds. 

"It is estimated that the 'hide-hunters' of Kansas, Tex- 
as, Colorado, and Southern Nebraska kill 50,000 each year 
for the skins alone; that the Indians kill three times that 
number, and that perhaps 10,000 more are killed by sports- 
men and those pioneers Avho depend on buffalo for their 
winter meat; thus we have the enormous figure of 210,000 
as the annual slaughter. But this even will not represent 
the grand total, for many calves are captured to be sold to 
menageries, museums, and to private gentlemen who desire 
such pets. I cannot approach a summary of the latter, but 
I think that from five to ten thousand would be an approx- 
imate estimate, though a low one. I have known instances 
where a hundred of these creatures were caught in a day 
by being run down, and not more than one-tenth were alive 
the next; for, though apparently strong, they cannot en- 
dure much hardship. By giving the figures in round num- 
bers, we may estimate that a quarter of a million bison are 
destroyed annually. At this rate of destruction, they can- 
not last long; so the next generation will probably witness 
the decimation of the animal most characteristic of the 
fauna of North America — one with which the history of 
the plains, pioneers, and trappers is most closely blended." 



210 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

This assertion may seem extraordinary, yet everything 
points to it as a fact ; and although buffaloes still roam in 
millions over the Western plains, their fate is already seal- 
ed, as the hide-hunters kill even gravid females, and leave 
their carcasses on the prairie to feed carnivorous birds and 
quadrupeds. 

I counted as many as thirty carcasses of cows one day 
in Southern Nebraska, and in each case the udder was full 
of milk. The Vandals in this heedless destruction were 
the hide-hunters, from whom no game is safe if they can 
only get a few pence for either the flesh or the skin. The 
death of over five million buffaloes in four years proves 
how successfully and assiduously these men work, and how 
stupid the bison must be. I have seen a small herd almost 
decimated by regular hunters before the remainder took 
the precaution to leave, yet they saw whence the deathly 
missiles came by the puffs of smoke. They would not 
have fled, in all probability, when they did, had not one of 
the men shown himself unintentionally ; but the moment 
his head peered above the ravine in which he was station- 
ed they swaggered away at their best pace. 

The animals which are so much afraid of man show no 
fear of their satellites, the wolves; and this trait of their 
nature is used to good advantage by the Indians, for they 
sometimes dress themselves up in wolf-skins, and approach 
an unsuspicious herd from the leeward to within arrow- 
range, and, squatting themselves on their heels, ply their 
bows to such good advantage that they soon have a good 
stock of meat lying on the ground before them. They 
prefer using their swift and noiseless primitive missiles in 
such cases to fire-arms, as the noise of the latter is liable 
to scare the animals and produce a stampede that may last 
for two days. The rifle detonations are also liable to ter- 
rify other game and clear the country of it in a short time. 

Their favorite mode of hunting now is to make a sur- 
round on horseback, and slay right and left until they be- 
come weary ; and if this drives the buffaloes away, they 
follow them up as fast as the squaws can prepare the meat 



THE BUFFALO. 213 

and attend to the hides. I have seen some surrounds of 
the Sioux and Pawnees ; and were the scene not made pict- 
uresque by the wigwams, the numerous and almost naked 
warriors, and excitement of galloping- steeds and herds, I 
should say that it was not so inspiriting or successful as 
a drive organized by Western hunters and sportsmen. 

The half-breeds of portions of British America organize 
regular hunts also, and on such occasions they take all their 
household effects with them. The women and children are 
stowed away in rude carts, and the men ride the mustangs 
which are to play so prominent a part in the chase. As 
the long cavalcade winds over the grass-clad prairie, made 
gay with many species of brilliant wild-flowers, it presents 
an inspiriting sight, and recalls, in a small way, the advance 
of an army. When it reaches the buffalo-grounds a camp 
is pitched in a convenient locality, close to wood and water 
if possible, and, after that is done, the leader takes his men 
to the leeward of a herd, and distributes them in such a 
manner that they may be able to drive it toward the en- 
campment, in order to avoid as much trouble as possible 
in gathering up the meat. They sometimes place buffalo 
"chips" in such a manner on the prairie as to make them 
look like men, and, when the herd sees these, it breaks 
away from them, and heads perhaps for the camp, where 
another party of hunters is ready to receive it. When 
everything is arranged, the men close in gradually on the 
thousands of shaggy creatures that dot the plain, probably 
as far as the eye can see, and, on arriving within charging 
distance, they dash on at the best speed of their horses. 
Then commences a scene to which no pencil can do full 
justice. The alarmed throngs, on seeing their foes, break 
away in wild terror, the cows being generally at the head 
of the column, owing to their greater fleetness and light- 
ness, and the calves being next to them, while the burly 
bulls close the rear and flanks. This terrified host causes 
the ground to fairly tremble beneath its weight, and the 
noise of its movements may be heard a long distance off, 
as it is not unlike the roar of an advancing hurricane. 



214 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

When the hunters range along-side the crowding multi- 
tude they use rifle and revolver so rapidly that the noise 
sounds like the firing of a heavy body of skirmishers. 
They require few shots to kill an animal, one or two being 
generally sufficient ; for their trained buffalo-runners carry 
them so close to the herd that a bullet can be planted in 
whatever portion of the body the hunter wishes. The re- 
sult is that, in a run of perhaps twenty miles, a thousand 
or two animals may be lying on the ground, and in some 
instances double that number. When the recall is sound- 
ed, the horsemen return and devote their attention to the 
wounded, and soon put them out of their misery. The 
carts follow the hunters and gather up the meat, and the 
greater portion of that is, in a few hours, ready to be placed 
on the drying-stages, while the hides are being prepared 
for curing. When the expedition returns after the grand 
hunt, which sometimes lasts for weeks, its members have 
meat enough to feed them for several months, and many a 
buffalo-robe with which to provide clothing and luxuries 
for their families. 

A good robe is worth from two to four dollars ; so it 
will be seen that they can earn a handsome sum in a short 
time. A spring robe, when the animal has very little hair 
on its body, and it looks like a shorn poodle, is worth only 
one or one and a half dollars, yet the skin-hunters slay it 
even then, for this paltry sum, in large numbers. 

The Indian hunts that I witnessed were something like 
the one described, except that they used short, powerful 
bows and heavy arrows in preference to fire-arms. The 
reason they gave for this was, that the former made no 
noise, and did not therefore terrify the animals so much as 
the latter would, or cause them to leave the country, and so 
make a long pursuit a necessity. By using arrows, they 
could hunt for several days within an area of twenty 
square miles, whereas the use of rifles would make them 
travel perhaps ten or twenty miles before they could find 
a herd ; and it would then be so timid that to approach it 
might prove a difficult matter, and would certainly require 



S( 



THE BUFFALO. 215 

rent caution and the most careful stalking. Another rea- 
json is, that every man can tell what meat belongs to him 
by the private mark on his arrows; so all that the squaws 
have to do is to search for the arrows of their husbands, 
and commence an immediate dissection of the carcasses in 
which they are planted. If a precipice is convenient, the 
\ red men avoid all trouble by driving the herds toward it, 
and into this they tumble headlong; for they move at such 
a velocity, and are so crowded together, that the rear push- 
es the front downward, and all follow in the most stupid 
i manner, though they may see the danger before them. 
'Many thousands are destroyed in this way, and many more 
i by being lost in quicksands, or swallowed up in the ice and 
j turbulent currents of large rivers; so that fate seems to 
aim at their destruction. 

One of the meanest devices ever instituted by man for 
.. their destruction is that practised by some persons south 
of the Platte River, in Nebraska. Streams being exceed- 
ingly scarce there, the poor creatures have to travel many 
miles sometimes to obtain water, and, when they reach it, 
i they are so desperate from thirst that nothing except death 
can prevent them from having it. Hunters, knowing this, 
; post themselves along the streams and kill them as they 
come to drink ; but for fear their work by day should not 
(1 prove effective enough, they build fires at night, and by 
this means keep the dying creatures away from the water 
for three or four days at a time. When, however, they can 
stand the pangs of thirst no longer, they rush for the pre- 
cious fluid, preferring death to unbearable misery ; and 
I many sink, to rise no more, under the leaden hail of nu- 
| merous rifles. Herd after herd is frequently slaughtered 
in this barbarous manner, until scarcely any remain in a 
I large tract of country. The result is, that few, compara- 
| tively speaking, are now found there, though they could be 
counted by the thousands a few years ago. 

I have had some exciting and pleasant runs after the 
buffalo on horseback, and I have stalked it on a few occa- 
sions; but the latter method seems to me to be little better 



216 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

than shooting cows, and not half so dangerous as an attack 
on wild cattle; hence it is scarcely worth mentioning; for 
all that is required to be successful is to seek shelter be- 
hind a knoll to the leeward of a herd and fire away to the 
heart's content, or until the animals get beyond range. 

As nearly all buffalo hunts are alike, and differ only in 
minor details, such as a fall from a horse, or a charge from 
an angry or wounded bull, and perhaps a severe bruise, I 
shall tell how I secured my first two buffaloes, as my expe- 
rience may prove of use to the novice in the chase. While 
halting for a few days at a little village in Nebraska, word 
was brought in that the buffaloes were moving toward the 
Platte River in immense herds, and that the country was 
black with them. This seemed to cause as much excite- 
ment among the men as if it were an announcement of an | 
Indian raid; and all those who had horses and rifles or re- 
volvers made preparations at once to have a dash at the < 
strangers. In the hotel at which I was stopping was a 
celebrated hunter, Dr. Carver, and at his invitation I joined 
a party which he was to lead. 

Not having a horse, I was advised to procure a buffalo- 
runner owned by the keeper of a livery-stable, and to him 
I accordingly applied, and made a bargain with him that I 
was to have his steed at the rate of four dollars per day, 
and be responsible for his value in case he was injured. 
At five o'clock in the evening he was brought to the hotel, 
and, when I gazed on him, I must say I was sorely disap- 
pointed ; for he was small, ungainly in form, weedy, and 
boasted of very little flesh. He bore an old Mexican sad- 
dle on his back, and a rusty pair of reins and a curb-bit 
completed his trappings. After gazing at him for a few f 
moments in silent disgust, I asked his owner if he could - 
run a buffalo; and that individual told me, in the most 
emphatic terms possible, that he could, and was one of the < 
best horses in the country for such a purpose. 

Assured by his manner that the brute was really excel- 
lent, I mounted ; and when the remainder of the party, ten 
in number, rode up, accompanied by a large covered wagon 



THE BUFFALO. 217 

or prairie schooner, we moved off into the open country in 
the dim twilight. After marching until near midnight, we 
went into camp by simply halting, and after picketing our 
horses so that they could graze, we took our blankets out 
of the wagon, and, rolling ourselves up in them, we lay 
down to sleep under the shelter of the vehicle. Slum- 
ber was rendered impossible, however, by the sharp attacks 
of innumerable mosquitoes, whose "little bills" pierced 
through our heavy woollen blankets and clothes with appar- 
ently as much ease as if they did not exist. The first hour 
of retirement was devoted* to tumbling about uneasily, in 
order not to have all the pricks on one side, and to blessing 
mosquitoes and all their race; but just as they were be- 
coming unendurable, a fierce and sudden wind, to which 
the prairies are often subjected, came sweeping toward us 
with a howl of seeming rage, and in another moment our 
pests were swept away. The gale, though strong, was not 
very cold, and by cuddling close together we managed to 
keep warm enough to fall into a restless doze. 

I had scarcely lost consciousness, however, before I was 
aroused by an alarmed shout of " Get up, boys ; the In- 
dians are coming !" The words were scarcely uttered be- 
fore we were all thoroughly wide-awake and unrolled from 
our blankets. In searching for my boots, which were the 
only part of my vestments of which I had divested myself, 
I caught the man who was sleeping near my feet by the 
hair of the head, and gave it a strong pull in my haste to 
find what I wanted. This act must have thoroughly sur- 
prised him, and recalled visions of scalping to his mind ; 
for he yelled out, "Holy Jerusalem ! what is that?" This 
brought as a response a suppressed chorus of "Shut up, you 
d — n fool;" but the incident seemed so ludicrous to me that 
I chuckled heartily, notwithstanding the apparent danger. 
We were soon dressed, and, with rifles in hand, we ranged 
ourselves on one side of the wagon, prepared to sell our 
lives as dearly as possible. As the night was exceedingly 
dark, we were in hopes that our position might not be seen, 
and that the announced enemy might pass us by ; but this 

10 



218 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

hope was soon dispelled by heaving the clatter of many 
hoofs bearing directly down upon us. We cocked our 
rifles, and stood in breathless excitement awaiting the at- 
tack, yet hoping we should escape it, for we had the strong- 
est objections to losing our scalps and having our bodies 
mutilated. The horsemen left the hard road when a few 
yards away from us, and galloped on to the grass. Sup- 
posing that our position was actually detected, we were 
thinking of opening fire, when they halted, and a strongly 
accentuated German voice called out, " Veil, poys, I dink 
ve'el gamp here ; I see dere's oder poys here." The other 
boys were delighted at this unexpected turn of affairs; 
but, as soon as they were over their surprise, how they 
blessed that man's Dutch heart, and wished he and his 
party were transferred to a certain region where no winter 
climate is known ! After a short but emphatic verbal bat- 
tle, we learned that the strangers were a party of Germans 
from town who were out for a buffalo-hunt. After being 
taunted with not knowing a buffalo from a pig, and classi- 
fying any buffalo that would allow them to kill it as an 
idiot, a truce was declared, and we were once more rolled 
up in our blankets. The individual whose hair was pulled 
was then reviled for his scream of alarm, and he was told 
that he was anything but a wise man ; and he, to retaliate, 
said that if he knew who made him scream he would put 
a bullet in him. "The d — n fool did it on purpose to 
skeer me," said he, " for he pulled out a whole handful of 
hair, and I thought my head would be histed off of my 
neck backward." As no person seemed inclined to ac- 
knowledge doing the deed, though nearly all except the 
right one were accused of it, we went to sleep once more, 
our lullaby being sung by the howling gale. 

We were awake with the first streak of dawn ; and af- 
ter bolting a few mouthfuls of sandwiches and a cup of 
coffee, we saddled our steeds and rode away, the wagon 
bringing up the rear. We marched for three or four 
miles, but saw no signs of buffaloes where they were re- 
ported to be so numerous, and this caused some of the 2>ar- 



THE BUFFALO. 219 

ty to think the Indians had been pursuing them ; and as 
the Sioux were then dangerous, and had been making raids 
on some of the settlements, it was deemed best that we 
should be cautious in our movements, and keep together as 
much as possible in a run, and, above all, to rally at once 
when the assembly call of " hoopee " was shouted. This 
matter being understood, we advanced slowly in search of 
the animals ; but we could see nothing of them, though an- 
telopes in large numbers were met, and the prairie seem- 
ed to be alive with birds. We also noted that the grass 
was not trampled; and deducing from this that the buffa- 
loes had not come so far south, we put spurs to our horses 
and cantered on a few miles farther. On reaching a large 
meadow near the Platte River, we espied a cow and a calf 
grazing together. As they were the first seen, it was de- 
cided to capture them for luck, so two men were detailed 
to carry the resolution into effect. They galloped down 
through the long grass, which reached almost to the saddle- 
girths, and were soon beside the cow and running her hard. 
She coursed about in a lively manner, first in one direction, 
then in another, according as she was headed off, until she 
was finally brought to bay through sheer fatigue, and one 
of the men killed her with his revolver. 

The calf had, in the mean while, broken away and head- 
ed straight for the low rolling bluffs or hillocks about two 
miles distant from the stream. This brought it across our 
path, so the leader and myself concluded to lasso it with 
some heavy ropes that we carried. 

Starting in pursuit, we followed it down a trail, then up 
the bluffs; but I found that the famous buffalo-runner I 
bestrode was far behind in the chase, and that I could not 
even keep in sight of my companion. I therefore slowed 
down to a walk, and gave way to a vigorous rumination 
about the man who introduced me to his horse. While 
engaged in this unpleasant meditation I espied a calf a few 
yards away, and concluded to see if I could not have bet- 
ter luck with that than the previous one. Riding slowly 
toward it, and as much under shelter as the ground would 



220 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

permit, I approached it to within fifty yards before I was 
detected, then away we both went. After running about 
a mile, I drew close to it and made a throw ; but the rope 
being heavy, and the wind blowing strongly against me, 
I missed, much to my chagrin. I lost nothing in speed, 
however, by the cast, and still keeping up the pursuit, and 
coursing the creature in every direction, I finally got a 
good throw, and caught it by the neck. Taking a few 
turns of the rude lariat around the horn of the saddle, I 
dismounted to secure my quarry, by tying its legs ; but I 
had scarcely touched the ground before my steed, finding 
himself relieved of his load, broke away abruptly, dragging 
the calf after him for a few feet; but he soon released 
himself from that encumbrance and left the half- choked 
creature, the rope, and myself, on the open and, to me, un- ' 
known prairie, while he galloped away, swinging his tail, 
and turning round every now and then as if to see how I 
liked the predicament in which he had placed me. .1 did 
not like it by any means ; and if he had been my property, 
and within close range, I fear he would not have lived for 
more than a second or two. I seized the rope before the 
calf could run away with it, and then commenced a tug of 
war between us ; but, as I had the advantage, I was the 
victor in less than five minutes, for my antagonist was so 
choked that it had to cease its struggles. When I ap- 
proached to upset it, by entangling its legs in the rope 
and then securing them, the vicious little creature charged 
me suddenly, and striking me full in the stomach with 
its head, it both doubled me up and tumbled me over, 
and, when I was down, attempted to gore me with its tiny 
horns. I was soon on my feet, however, and had my cou- 
rageous little foe down by the rope trick, and, after tying 
its feet with a piece of string, I took off the lasso, intend- 
ing to follow my horse and try its power on him. As he 
was some distance away, and the probability was that I 
would have to meet some of the party before I could catch 
him, I concluded to let the calf go free, for, if left tied, it 
would undoubtedly have fallen a prey to the wolves, as I 



THE BUFFALO. 221 

could not, in all probability, have found it again if I went 
any distance away on a prairie where no mark existed by 
which I could identify the spot. I therefore released the 
creature, and was rewarded for my kindness by another 
charge; but I escaped that readily by volting to one side 
and allowing the assailant to rush past me and get away. 

Starting out in pursuit of the runaway steed, a short 
tramp brought me to where he was grazing, but, on seeing 
me, he made a defiant attempt to kick up his heels a few 
times, and then started off; but, fortunately for me, he ran 
toward a farmer's wagon that was passing by a short dis- 
tance off, and the driver captured him, and held him until 
I arrived. When I was on his back once more, I plied 
the spurs vigorously, and received in retaliation a series 
of buck jumps that threatened to break my spinal column. 
After a sharp contest of fifteen minutes, he acknowledged 
his defeat by moving onward at a smart gallop, and I was 
soon with my companians. I found that the leader had 
lassoed some calves, but that the others had not seen any- 
thing to shoot at except antelopes and prairie-dogs. Wait- 
ing until the wagon came up, in order to place the calves 
in it, we had a good opportunity of reconnoitring the sur- 
rounding country from a high bluff. We could see no 
buffaloes in our immediate vicinity; but far away, much 
farther than we cared to go, they dotted the landscape 
for miles in small herds. This induced us to change our 
route, and go direct for the highest bluffs, and, after the 
calves were stowed away in the wagon, we marched to- 
ward them. A walk of three or four miles led us into a 
splendid rolling prairie, over which the antelopes roamed 
in large numbers ; and as we had few prospects of meeting 
what we sought, we concluded to test our rifles on them. 

Taking a seat on the grass, we commenced popping away 
at all ranges, and, if we did not hurt them much we scared 
them a good deal, for they would stand and stare and 
wheel, then bound away with the fleetness of a greyhoxind. 
It was amusing to see the young approach us after being 
shot at, as if they could not understand that our firing 



222 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

meant danger, or else they were so blind that they could 
not see us while lying still, for motion seems to be one of 
the necessary conditions to their recognition of objects. 

While amusing ourselves in this manner, one of our par- 
ty noticed a number of trupials hastening past us, and he 
announced the event by jumping up suddenly and shout- 
ing, " I say, boys, there's buffaloes round yere somewhere, 
for there go the buffalo-birds; so we'd better be off." His 
suggestion was acted upon at once, and a few moments 
later we were following the route taken by the winged 
pilots. These, which are known in portions of the West 
as "buffalo-birds," are of a dark-brown color, and are really 
blackbirds. Flocks of them are nearly always found with 
the animals that have given them their name, and the two 
seem to get along well together, judging from the fact 
that the former may be seen perched on the backs of the 
latter and pecking away at the hide in the most familiar 
manner. 

After riding about a mile, we saw a group of what we 
supposed to be our quarry a short distance away, and care- 
fully approached it, but, on getting within range, found we 
had been stalking fleshless skulls that must have lain there 
two or three years at least. This proving a severe disap- 
pointment, we moved onward in silence. A short distance 
beyond this spot we saw two splendid herds coming from 
water, and, as they were advancing in our direction, we 
decided to await their approach. The usual impatience 
of delay was appeased, however, by watching the animals 
gambolling about in the most playful manner, and noting 
the mock contests of the unwieldy bulls. These would 
rush at each other as if about to engage in a deadly strife, 
but, after one or two pushes, they would break away and 
frisk about in the liveliest manner, as if they felt extremely 
happy. Others were rooting up the ground and scattering 
it about with their horns, and not a few were trying the 
quality of their voice in low, deep tones, which, if gruff, 
were not unmusical. The scene was full of life and inter- 
est, and we were enjoying it very much when the animals 



THE BUFFALO. 223 

altered their antics by a sudden stampede, and went thun- 
dering to the windward. We were disappointed before; 
we were disgusted now, and our disgust was increased 
by seeing the " Teutonic Indians " of the previous evening- 
rushing after them pell-mell, and, though far in the rear, 
keep firing at them with rifles aimed from the nose. The 
bullets could not reach half the intervening distance, yet 
they kept up the firing until they sunk from our sight be- 
hind a bluff. The imprecations hurled at such sportsmen 
by our party was a caution, and one went so far as to sug- 
gest that they should be pursued and shot at as nuisances 
run wild. The suggestion was not acted upon, however, 
and we wended our way in an opposite direction. 

On reaching the top of a bluff, we espied a large herd 
grazing in a ravine ; and to be sure this time that our la- 
bor was not in vain, we dashed across an intervening plain, 
crawled slowly up the declivity of the ravine, and when we 
reached the summit found that we were actually right on 
the herd. We dashed at it promptly as it tore away in a 
solid mass, and in a few moments our leader and the best 
mounted of the party were ranged along-side it and firing 
away for dear life. The experienced hunters cut off the 
rear-guard and turned it to the right; I followed the main 
column and tried to get a shot, but my famous runner 
would not take me close enough to enable me to shoot 
with any degree of accuracy. Seeing no other resource 
left, I threw the reins on his neck and commenced banging 
away at the herd in hopes that I might wound one, but, 
though watching closely, I could not even tell where the 
bullets went. My steed decidedly helped me in this ill- 
luck, for, as soon as he ceased to be directed by the reins, 
he swerved away at right angles, and in a few minutes car- 
ried me beyond rifle range. I was so furious that I felt 
like killing him ; but I thought better of it, and turned 
back toward my party with feelings of shame and disgust. 
I had not proceeded more than a hundred yards before an 
old bull, with a splendid head, came rolling out of a ravine 
with a gait not unlike that of a sailor on shore, and at- 



224 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

tempted to cross my front. I fired at him, and planted a 
bullet in his shaggy forehead; but it had no effect upon 
him, apparently, for he kept up his swinging gallop at the 
same speed. I then started in pursuit, and commenced fir- 
ing away, in hopes that I might give him a wound that 
would cause him to halt, as I had no confidence in the 
pace of my horse; but before I fired the third shot the 
bullet got jammed in the Winchester rifle which I carried, 
and no amount of pushing and "cussing" could extricate 
it, so I was compelled to halt to get it out. When I turn- 
ed my attention from the gun to the bull, I saw him disap- 
pearing over a bluff, while my horse was going direct for 
home ! Oh, how I blessed that buffalo-runner and the man 
who praised him ! My misfortunes having reached a cli- 
max, t became stupidly calm in mind, and let the brute go 
his own course, without even attempting to punish him 
with the spurs. On my way back I saw the leader advan- 
cing, and driving a wounded cow before him, and by his 
side was a coal-black negro who rode a sorry excuse of a 
mustang. When he saw me he shouted to hurry up, and, 
on approaching him, he asked me if I had killed anything. 

" Nothing," said I. 

"Well," said he, "you mustn't go away from your first 
run with me without killing a buffalo ; so you'd better 
tackle that cow, else you won't have any luck in your 
next hunt." 

The thought was ignominious ; but, being imbued with 
a small amount of the hunter's superstition, I concluded to 
become lucky in the chase, even at the expense of pride ; 
so I opened fire on the poor creature, and in a short time 
caused her to halt, and a shot in the eye finished her, as it 
reached the brain. When brought to bay her eyes were 
a glowing emerald with rage, and she looked vicious enough 
to do anything, but, fortunately, she was unable to charge, 
else she might have gored me or the brute I rode, for he 
was too stupid or lazy to move off promptly even with a 
vigorous application of the spurs. I had killed my buffalo, 
to be sure ; but, by Jove, in what a manner ! I actually felt 



THE BUFFALO. 225 

ashamed of myself; and this feeling was not allayed when 
I heard that she really belonged to the negro, he having 
wounded her first, but that she was taken away from him 
by my companion, on ■ the ground that he did not belong 
to our party, and he wished to reserve her for me. " But 
how did you know that I would not be successful?" said 
I. " Because," said he, emphatically, " that wretched mus- 
tang you ride can't overtake a buffalo, and, if he did, he 
would run away from it. I know what he can do ; but as 
there was no other horse left in town, I thought you could 
not do better than take him if you wished to join in the 
hunt; yet I had a hope he would prove better than he has. 
I know now what he can do, so you may have my spare 
runner for the next hunt." This assuaged my feelings of 
abashment somewhat, as it caused me to think that my ill- 
luck was not entirely my own fault ; hence I took the brush 
at his suggestion, and left the remainder to the negro. 
When our party was assembled, I learned that they had 
killed only three cows for meat, but had captured four 
calves by lassoing them. 

When the wagon drove up, w T e obtained some water 
from the barrel which it carried, and, after moistening our 
parched lips, we gave some to the horses. The best por- 
tions of the carcasses were then placed in the wagon, and 
on top of these the bucking, stubborn youngsters, which 
insisted on charging everybody that approached them. 

While attending to this duty, which occupied some time, 
we descried a body of horsemen on a bluff two or three 
miles away ; and as they appeared and disappeared a few 
times, it caused our party to think they were a marauding 
band of Sioux, and that we had better retreat at once if 
w r e Avould keep our scalps on our heads. The resolution 
was' no sooner taken than it was carried into execution, 
and, after everything was ready, we hastened to the rear 
at a good canter. When we had placed a few miles be- 
tween us and our supposed foes, we halted at the remains 
of a turf cabin, whose inmates had been killed and the hut 
burned down the year before by the treacherous red men. 

10* 



226 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

After a rude though hearty meal, we resumed our home- 
ward march, but we had not proceeded far before we saw 
another body of horsemen tearing down the plain in front 
of us. The men did not ride like Indians, and yet they 
were coining at a pace strongly indicative of a desire to 
head us off. We therefore halted, held a consultation, and 
decided to send two of the best mounted of the party in 
advance to reconnoitre, and to have them hasten back in 
case the strangers were foes, so that we might retreat to 
a good defensive position. They galloped away, and, after 
an absence of fifteen minutes, returned with a report that 
the supposed enemies were sheltered behind another dis- 
mantled cabin, whose inhabitants had met the fate of those 
of the previous one, but that they did not think they were 
Indians. Being assured of this, we galloped onward, but, 
on approaching the cabin, we left the road and moved on 
the grass-clad prairie, in order to deaden the footsteps of 
our horses. When we were within a hundred yards of it 
we gave a tremendous warwhoop, and rode on like the Six 
Hundred ; and in a moment more we saw a party of white 
men, with well-bleached faces, peer from behind the cabin, 
and these we recognized at once as our Teutonic acquaint- 
ances of the previous night. When we rode up their feat- 
ures were still blanched, and they were in a violent state of 
agitation. 

" Gott im himmel!" said one, "for vhat you scare us 
so? I nearly choked mineself mit a sandvich;" and, as 
he spoke, he was still slightly gagging with the remnants 
of a sandwich. His question was greeted with hearty 
laughter, for the fears displayed on the features of all look- 
ed ridiculous to us, who were not in their position. " Meb- 
be you call dot foon," said another, " but I call it tarn 
fool foon mitout no joke." We were soon at peace, how- 
ever, and, when the truce was declared, we learned from 
them that they had killed nothing, and that the cause of 
their hasty retreat was seeing a body of Indians. On com- 
paring notes, we learned that both our parties had mis- 
taken each other for the common foe ; but we took excel- 



THE BUFFALO. 227 

lent cave not to tell them that we had run away for the 
same reason they had. 

After a few pulls at their water-jugs, peace was ratified, 
and we jogged homeward together; but the way was 
made rather jolly by many lively sallies at their fears and 
sportsman-like qualities, all of which they took in the most 
simple earnestness, and answered in such a quaint manner 
that Hans Breitman, had he heard them, might have pro- 
duced a capital work, did he take for a title their oft-re- 
peated saying, " Mebbe you tink you make lots of foon of 
us ; but I call dot tarn fool foon !" 

When I retired to bed that night I was so seriously lac- 
erated, from hugging the saddle during the bucking and 
running, that I could hardly move, and, on awaking the 
next morning, I was so stiff and sore that I could not 
walk without presenting a ridiculous gait, so I stayed in 
bed. Notwithstanding the disagreeable condition of af- 
fairs, I laughed heartily at the scenes of the hunt, and treas- 
ure to this day my first buffalo-brush, as it recalls incidents 
I would not willingly forget. None that I have since won 
in a more glorious manner can approach it in value, in my 
estimation, and, whenever I see it, memory becomes active, 
and I am once more playing the part of a novice on the 
plains of the Far West. 

My next brush was won in better style ; yet I have rea- 
son to remember it. A large party of us started out for a 
hunt in the Republican Valley, and, as we intended to be 
absent some days, we took wagons and camping outfits 
with us, and a good store of food and ammunition, besides 
nearly every offensive weapon known on the continent. I 
was content to carry only a large, self-cocking revolver, and 
for a steed I secured a small, wiry, short-legged mustang, 
which was recommended to me as a capital buffalo-runner, 
he having been used specially for that purpose by a sub- 
chief of the Pawnees. As I was present when he was pur- 
chased, and heard the close -bargaining chief recommend 
him emphatically as tichoree tuchnee, or "very good," I felt 
satisfied that he was superior to my last mount; and he 



228 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 






was accordingly bought for the sum of one hundred dol- 
lars after much haggling, and with the assumed regret of 
the high-minded vendor, who did not forget to tell us that 
he was a layshaioroo, or chief, and had a straight tongue. 
I expected to accomplish wonders with him, and I did, but 
in a manner different to what I anticipated. I received 
with him as a present an old lasso (ahshitscawree) which 
looked as if it had seen many years of service; this I was, 
according to instructions, to tie around the horse's neck in 
the chase, and coil the remainder in my belt, so that if I 
got thrown I could catch my steed readily, and probably be 
dragged out of the way of danger, by clinging to it, as it 
would uncoil itself if I left the saddle unceremoniously. 

When we reached our camping -ground we found that 
the buffaloes had moved to the southward of where they 
had been a few days previously, so we concluded to follow 
them. Our route led over an undulating prairie, which was 
richly carpeted with flowers and rich, succulent grasses, 
until the evening of the second day, when we reached the 
buffalo-grounds, and then our hearts bounded with joy on 
seeing the shaggy creatures, looking like so many black 
dots in the distance, scattered over a large area. We dis- 
cerned, by their movements, that there was some commo- 
tion among those farther south ; and after watching them 
attentively for an hour or more, we saw the dots unite in 
larger numbers and come toward us at a rapid pace. We 
inferred from this fact that they were fleeing before a large 
body of hunters, and that they would, in all probability, be 
so close to us the next day that we need not leave camp to 
enjoy all the hunting we wanted. In order to avoid their 
heedless, headlong rush, when stampeding, we concluded to 
pitch our tents in a grove of willows near the bank of the 
river, and not to picket our horses, but to tie them up to 
trees and cut grass for them, as we were afraid they might 
be injured by the advancing columns, should they approach 
our quarters. 

After the camp was erected, we cleaned our arms, dined, 
and laid in a large store of wood with which to build fires 



THE BUFFALO. 229 

at night to the leeward of the tents, in order to terrify the 
buffaloes should they attempt to enter the coppice in our 
vicinity. Everything being carried out according to the 
programme, we appointed sentinels, who were to remain on 
duty two hours each, and their business was to announce 
any danger to our position from the advance of the shaggy 
multitude, and to keep the fires burning. I was on duty 
about 2 a.m. when I heard the muffled roar produced by 
many hoofs galloping over grass ; but as I could see noth- 
ing, although the moon was bright and the fires burned 
fiercely, I did not like to awaken my sleeping companions 
until I knew which way the columns were coming. 

In about fifteen or twenty minutes I saw a black mass 
emerge from the horizon and come thundering toward our 
position with measured pace, and a few moments later I 
could detect the outlines of the buffaloes. Not knowing 
which way they were really heading, owing to the broad 
front of the column, and fearing they might be down upon 
us unless I was prompt in action, I fired my rifle, and in 
two minutes thereafter every member of the encampment 
was out, dressed and armed, yet not one of them had been 
aroused by the uproar created by the advancing hosts. 
Taking position to the leeward of the camp, we commenced 
firing at them as soon as they came within range, and 
banged away uninterruptedly for ten minutes, as we feared 
they might ride down our camp or stampede our horses, if 
they came too close. The firing soon produced its effect, 
for the herd divided, some going straight ahead, while oth- 
ers plunged into the river and crossed to the opposite side. 
They were so thick in some parts of the stream that the 
water looked fairly black with them ; and through this they 
ploughed and rushed in the wildest confusion. This scene 
was as unusual to us as it was spirited, and we enjoyed it 
Jioroughly. When ihey vanished from our sight all retired 
to bed again, except the sentinel on duty ; but the novelty 
and animation of the scene prevented me from wooing gen- 
tle slumber for some time. 

We were astir at daybreak the next morning, and, after 



230 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

a hasty breakfast, vaulted into the saddles and started in 
search of the slain and wounded. We found them few 
enough, our fire having killed only six cows and seriously 
wounded another; but we discovered a solitary old bull 
roaming about half a mile away, and we soon had him 
among our trophies ; not because he was deemed palatable, 
but that he had a magnificent head. 

We next directed our course to the eastward of -the 
camp, and after a ride of two miles came upon several 
small herds ; but beyond these the prairie was almost cov- 
ered with them. We halted and held a consultation, and 
it was then decided that our party should divide into three 
detachments, and that each should take one of the small 
herds and drive it, if possible, toward the main body, so 
that we might pick up the meat on the way to camp, and 
not waste any time in useless riding back and forth. That 
matter having been settled, the party to which I belonged 
approached to within a quarter of a mile of the column we 
had selected before being detected ; but on seeing that we 
could get no nearer, we dashed after it. The race contin- 
ued at a headlong pace for a mile or more before we were 
able to overtake the animals, and even then we could only 
range along-side the old bulls. As it was each man for 
himself, I chose a sturdy veteran that occupied the flank, 
and when I was within fifty paces of him I leaned forward 
and fired at his heart ; but the ball must have struck his 
ribs, as he did not slacken his pace. I then brought the 
mustang closer to him and fired at the fore-shoulder, and, 
in doing so, I leaned to the right; but the explosion had 
scarcely taken place before my steed wheeled suddenly, 
and, it seemed to me, on his hind-legs alone; and as I had 
lost my balance by my attitude he went clean from under 
me, and I came on the ground with a thud that made me 
see as many stars as there are in the firmament in a few 
seconds, and caused me to feel as if my head were smashed. 
Instead of stopping to scratch it, however, and indulge in 
vehement language, which seems to be the usual and the 
proper thing to do under such circumstances, seeing that 



THE BUFFALO. 231 

almost everybody does it, I had too lively a sense of danger 

J to indulge in such delights; so I seized the lariat or trail- 

| ing-rope, which was running out rapidly, and bolted after 

my steed in a half-dazed manner, for I felt as if I had half 

a dozen pieces of a head on me instead of a whole one. I 

j did not go far, however, before I overtook him, and got 

into the saddle somehow. 

It was a most fortunate thing for me that the bull did 
not charge, else I might have been gored to death. I 
learned from that accident to keep my balance, and not to 
touch the mustang with my feet — as his training had 
taught him to be guided by them, and to wheel to which- 
ever side he felt their pressure. 

I did not lose much time in getting under headway once 
more; and in five minutes I was beside the bull, which had 
fallen back to the extreme rear of the column. I tried to 
force my mustang close beside him, in order to get in a 
deadly shot; but that wary animal did not seem inclined 
to do so, but kept away at least thirty yards or more. I 
then tried running past the bull, and managed to accom- 
plish that easily enough, and to deliver three shots in rapid 
succession at his shoulder. When I wheeled about I saw 
him stop, and noticed blood oozing from his nose, and when 
I got in front of him he charged me viciously with his head 
lowered; but the mustang was evidently prepared for this 
action, for he turned abruptly to the left, and by the time 
the enraged bull got to where he had been standing he was 
several yards away in another direction. I checked him in 
a few moments, however, and charged the veteran at full 
speed, and, rushing past him, gave him two shots in the 
head, and when I wheeled about again I saw him stagger- 
ing; and in less than a minute he fell dead. I need not 
say I was glad of it, for my head seemed to be splitting, 
and I wished very much to see if it were whole or in parts. 
After a short examination I learned that there were no un- 
usual indentations in it, and this put me in better humor 
than I had been. 

Not seeing any wolves on the plain, I left my trophy 



232 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

where it fell, and threw a handkerchief, containing my ini- 
tials, over it, so that other hunters might know to whom it 
belonged ; for I was most anxious to preserve the head on 
account of its size, the thickness of the matted hair, and 
the length and fulness of the horns. I next marked the 
position by taking bearings and noting the character of all 
surrounding objects — a precaution, I may add, which is 
rendered necessary if one would not lose the fruits of the 
chase; for in a region where one spot is almost exactly 
like another, one must closely scan every detail that would 
give it an individuality by which he could recognize it. 

After marking the place carefully in my memory, I 
mounted and rode on, and, as I moved along, I noticed my 
companions running herds in every direction, and firing 
away for dear life ; but as I wanted sport, not meat, I did 
not join them. When I reached the heavy columus, how- 
ever, I concluded to have some runs alone, if the others did 
not come up within half an hour; and as they did not, I 
selected a herd which contained, I should imagine, about 
five thousand, and dashed at it from cover when within an 
eighth of a mile of it. The majority of this herd was evi- 
dently composed of adult bulls, which cannot at all com- 
pare in speed with the cows, calves, or the younger mem- 
bers of their own sex ; hence I had little trouble in over- 
taking them. When I started in pursuit, the vast assem- 
blage visible in every direction seemed to be in a state of 
commotion ; and fearing I might get entangled in it, I ran 
to the front of the herd, intending to drive it away from 
the main body and push it toward the rolling ground to 
the right. When I reached that position, however, I found 
the work rather difficult, as the animals would not turn, 
but gave way laterally. I therefore concluded to kill one 
or two to see if that would have any effect, and, turning 
my mustang's head toward the herd, and not twenty paces 
away from it, I fired at the spinal column of the leading- 
cow, and, fortunately, she fell dead at the first shot. Thus 
encouraged, I drew closer, probably to within ten paces, 
and brought another on her knees, and, plunging forward 



THE BUFFALO. 233 

n her head, she was soon trampled to death ; for the buf- 
aloes crowd so closely together during a stampede that 
hey have no room to swerve to one side; so on they 
mst go, trampling everything before them. 

The herd I was pursuing was so densely packed that it 

;ould be covered with a blanket, provided one could be 

bund large enough ; and, on looking toward the rear, all 

hat could be seen through the heavy cloud of dust was a 

hicket of horns, for the bodies were almost concealed. 

Seeing that I could not turn it, I stopped the pursuit, not 

ishing to kill needlessly, as I had already secured some 

ne robes ; yet I was anxious to get a few more of the 

est quality, and some burly heads for friends who were 

esirous to have them. As the column passed by me, I 

Isaw a splendid bull bringing up the rear, and ranging 

along-side him, I fired at his fore-shoulder at a distance of 

five paces, and brought him tumbling down. Riding close 

up to him, I placed my revolver against his back, fired, and 

breaking the spinal column, he fell dead in his tracks. 

This caused those behind to push away a little, and gave 

me an opportunity of firing at another fine animal; but as 

I hit him in the head, he went on with as much ease as if I 

had only struck him with a pebble. Not wishing to lose 

him, however, I followed, and in two shots brought him 

down, the last one having entered the heart. 

I felt satisfied then, and rode out of the dust-cloud to let 
the remainder pass on in peace, and perhaps to relieve my 
mouth, nostrils, and eyes of their accumulation of dust. I 
soon learned that I had not clone so too soon, for a few 
yards away another herd came thundering by ; and had I 
remained in the cloud I would not, in all probability, have 
seen or heard it, and the consequence might have been dis- 
astrous to me. Even as it was, I had to fire at those on 
the flank toward me to make them give way to the left, as 
I was afraid they would crowd on me, and entangle me in 
their midst, and injure if not kill me. My efforts proved 
successful in a short time, and they left a large space of 
ground between us. 



234 SPORTIXG ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

After I had marked the position of the slain animals, I 
rode back in search of my companions, and, on reaching a 
piece of rising ground, beheld one of the most spirited 
hunting scenes imaginable. The prairie as far as I could 
see was clotted with rushing herds, and running after them 
were several bodies of horsemen, while numerous puffs of 
blue smoke hung around them in clouds. I could see some 
fall occasionally, and knew that a havoc was being com- 
mitted among them. It seemed a pity to destroy them so 
mercilessly ; and on stating my opinion to a farmer at a 
later hour in the day, he responded to my sentiment by 
saying that he would be very glad to see the day that the 
buffaloes disappeared in the Republican Valley, as they ate 
up grass enough to support thousands and perhaps millions 
of domestic cattle, and they brought thieving Indians and 
unprincipled hide-hunters in their train; and between all 
three the farmers suffered more than their share of annoy- 
ance. He had no sentimental love for the shaggy quad- 
ruped, for, in his estimation, it " wasn't nothin' but a good- 
for-nothin' critter, that wasn't good for nothin' but to feed 
Injuns and eat up the food of the reg'lar cattle." Others 
in the same region held his opinion ; so it is evident that 
the presence of the buffalo is not considered an unmixed 
blessing. 

While walking back I noticed that wolves were making 
it rather lively for wounded animals, or those that strayed 
from the herds. I overtook one of the gray species, and 
as it did not attempt to escape, I dismounted and gave 
it a kick; but the poor brute was evidently sick, for it 
yelped with pain, but did not accelerate its pace. Knowing 
that it would soon be out of its misery, I did not molest 
it further, and passed on. In a short time afterward I 
noticed a pack of prairie-wolves chasing a calf that looked 
thoroughly pumped, and was bleeding from wounds in the 
nose, throat, and ears, while one eye was dangling down by 
a single muscle. On seeing me, they stopped short, and 
gazed at me with something akin to curiosity, and, before 
they were done scrutinizing, I dashed at them and emptied 



THE BUFFALO. 235 

four chambers of the revolver in their midst. This caused 
them to scatter in a hurry ; but I had the satisfaction of 
killing one and hitting another before they could get away. 
I slung the slain animal on my saddle, but allowed the 
wounded one to escape, as I did not wish to run my horse 
too much. Wolves of both species were quite common, 
and were feeding on dead buffaloes ; but they did not dare 
go near the one on which my handkerchief was placed, 
their bump of cautiousness being too great to approach 
any strange object for fear it might mean danger to their 
physical welfare. 

Soon after I had taken the brush of my first bull the 
wagons came up, and the drivers commenced loading them 
with heads and hides ; but they only took the best portions 
of the meat. After pointing out to them the route the 
hunters had taken, I started off to rejoin the remainder of 
the party ; but I had not proceeded far before I met a soli- 
tary old bull in a dry ravine, and, judging by his looks, he 
must have been a veteran indeed ; for his head was cov- 
ered with dense masses of hair, his horns were split and 
pointless, and the scars on his nose and hams showed that 
he had had many a contest with wolves. He did not see 
or wind me until I was fairly upon him, for the sight of the 
buffalo at the best is comparatively feeble ; but when once 
he recognized my presence he bolted away at a good swing- 
ing gallop, which forced my horse to put on a good spurt 
to overtake him. When I ranged along-side him I fired at 
his spinal column ; but the bullet striking him lower down, 
he no sooner felt its sting than he wheeled abruptly and 
charged me, and, before I could get safely away, he gave 
the mustang an upward raking blow in the flanks that 
scraped away some of the skin and brought the blood. 
This caused my steed to bound off at his best pace, and 
we were soon beyond his reach. Had his horn not been 
blunt, he would, no doubt, have seriously injured him, or 
perhaps killed us both. After running a short distance, I 
wheeled back, and set out after the assailant, which was 
making fast tracks over the prairie, and was soon at his 



236 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



flanks and firing away, raking him forward with every shot. 
He made two efforts to charge, but the mustang was too 
quick for him, and before he could wheel about we were 
out of his way. At the fourth shot he faltered for a few 
moments, swayed on his legs like a drunken man, then fell 
on his horns all in a lump. He was down only a short 
time, however, before he arose, and spreading" his legs apart 
to steady himself, looked at me in the most frightfully fe- 
rocious manner that it is possible for an animal to assume. 
I saw that he was beyond all power for harm, however, for 
the blood was flowing from his nose and mouth, and his 
head was lowered ; and, on noting this, I halted a few feet { 
from him, and gazed at his ponderous proportions and im- 
potent rage with a certain degree of fascination, for ho was 
as perfect a picture of malignant ferocity as it is possible 
to conceive. His eyes were bloodshot, and of a glowing 
reddish-emerald hue ; his mouth was open, and crimsoned 
with his life's fluid ; and fury seemed to hiss out of his 
nostrils in streams of smoke and blood. His bearing was . 
as defiant as his looks were revengeful, and he stood there 
an immovable living statue, for he was unable to advance 
or retreat. In a few minutes, however, his mien changed 
from that of a desire to annihilate a person to one of pain 
and weakness ; and, after swaying and staggering for five 
or six seconds, he fell over dead. After marking his posi- 
tion, I rode on, mentally resolving to use a rifle of large 
calibre the next time I went after buffaloes ; for I had 
come to the conclusion that a person could do better shoot- 
ing with it, or at least more destructive work, than with a 
revolver, while it would also enable one to keep beyond 
charging distance. 

After travelling a couple of miles I met a number of our 
party, who were wandering about, like myself, in search of 
experience and sport rather than hides and meat. Joining 
company, we moved toward the south, and in the course of 
twenty minutes reached a knoll that gave us a commanding 
view of a large portion of the surrounding country. We 
had been there only a short time before we noticed an im- 



THE BUFFALO. 239 

nense column of buffaloes rising out of the horizon and 
tome galloping toward us, and, a little later, we saw that it 
vas pursued by a large band of Indians, who were plying 
heir arrows as they only can. They carried the quiver 
lung over the shoulder; and so quickly did they draw the 
jolts from this, that one arrow was scarcely on its way be- 
ore another was following it. 

1 Knowing that they were friendly Pawnees, we decided 
|,o have a run with them ; so, when the buffaloes drew near 
pb, we dashed for the head of the column, and as it passed 
lis emptied our weapons into it whenever we saw a stately 
bull that suited our fancy; and, when all had gone by, we 
wheeled about and followed them. I was more interested 
f.n the picture presented by the chase than in getting tro- 
phies, however, as it was full of life and animation. The 
fcaddened herd, the clouds of dust, the thundering of hoofs, 
uhe falling of the killed and wounded, the charging and 
wheeling of ponies, the showers of arrows, and the wild 
excitement of the nude Centaurs made as stirring a hunt- 
ing scene as it is possible to conceive ; and so interested in 
|it was I that I permitted the animals to pass on, and re- 
mained behind to enjoy the grand spectacle they present- 
ed. After gazing at it for a sufficient time to enable me 
to appreciate its spirited character, I dashed after the fugi- 
tives, and was beside them in less than twenty minutes, and 
picking out the best heads. 

While going at full speed, my horse put his leg into a 
'prairie-dog hole, and, falling forward, pitched me headlong 
ito the ground ; and I had no sooner touched it than the 
'revolver went off so close to my nose that some of the dirt 
ploughed up by the bullet went into my eyes and mouth. 
I was upon my feet in a moment, however, and, on looking 
for my horse, found him standing still, trembling with ex- 
citement and the violence of the fall; but as he had suffer- 
ed no serious injury, I inferred that he had merely stum- 
bled against the mound near the mouth of the hole. 

My own bruises were confined to skinned knuckles and 
arms, and a few scratches on the forehead ; and, after I 



240 



SPORTING ADVENTURES, IN TEE FAR WEST. 



had ascertained their extent, I vaulted into the saddk 
and started for camp, as I was a little bit shaken, and my; 
horse seemed to be unsteady and nervous. After a refresh- 





BUFFALO-HUNTING. 



! .f ing drink of water,i 
which I procured in! 
a thread-like brook,ij 
= I moved south once 
more, and, on reach- i 
ing the hillock from.: 
which I had started 
on the last run, saw herd after herd of buffaloes come;! 
thundering toward me. The many puffs of whitish smoke ; 
which hung over them proved that they were being pur- 
sued by white men, and the black dots on the prairie! 
proved how destructive the shooting was. The picture 
presented by the advancing hosts might have been appre- 
ciated at any other time; but just then it was anything] 
but agreeable, as I feared I would be entangled in their! 
midst; for my horse was too tired to flee before them, 
and the columns were too wide to cross their front be-; 
fore they could reach me ; so there was nothing left but 
to try and pass between two herds, or open a gap by scar- 
ing the animals with voice and weapon. When the mul- 
titudes came near my position some of the leaders winded 
me; and the moment they did so they gave way to the 
left, and they were followed by those directly behind, while 
others swerved to the right and divided up into groups. I 
darted into one of the lanes, and, by using voice and re- 
volver, produced such an effect that the herds forced them- 



THE BUFFALO. 241 

selves farther apart, and left a space through which I rap- 
j idly retreated. On emerging at the rear, I found a party 
i of hunters there at a full stop, evidently awaiting some 
j exciting or important event ; and when they saw me they 
asked if I knew of any man being killed in front. I guess- 
I ed at the cause of their alarm at once, and told them I had 
i not. " Well," said one, " there's some idiot there among 
f the buffaloes, and he's been either shot or caught in the 
herds, and he's yelling like a pig under a gate. He seems 
to be a regular greenhorn, for if he doesn't want to be shot 
lie ought to keep on the outside of a herd." " Never mind, 
Bill," said another, " if he's dead we can't help it, and if he 
ain't we'll find him. Let's be off; we can't afford to lose 
our buffaloes ;" and, without another word, they started off 
in pursuit of the runaways. I did not care to explain mat- 
ters to them, so I jogged toward camp, and reached it by 
six o'clock. 

I found the greater number of our party there; and 
though several of them had been thrown, yet only one was 
severely injured, and he had his collar-bone injured by a 
fall. By seven o'clock all were assembled, and we sat 
down to a savory dinner, the chief part of which was buf- 
falo humps and tongues ; and most palatable they seemed 
to hungry men. After picketing our weary horses so that 
they could graze, all retired to bed except the solitary sen- 
tinel; but we could get little sleep, owing to the wild, mel- 
ancholy howling of the wolves, and the deep bellowing of 
the buffaloes, which frequently approached close to our 
fires. We were up early the next morning, as we intended 
to bring in the animals we had killed; for to hunt on that 
day with our wearied steeds was out of the question. 

After breakfast we sallied forth; but we had not pro- 
ceeded more than two miles before we met a courier, who 
informed us that he had ridden from Kearney Junction, 
some sixty or seventy miles distant, to inform the settlers 
that the Indians were expected to make a raid on the val- 
ley, under pretence of coming there to hunt. He reported 
that a telegram had been received at Kearney the previous 

11 



242 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

evening that a large body of Sioux were encamped soutl. 
of Sydney, and that their destination was evidently thd 
Republican Valley. This news caused us to feel so'mewha 
alarmed; so we concluded to take what meat we could obj 
tain in a couple of hours, and retreat into Kansas if the roa< ! 
to the north was closed against us. We therefore hastened 
our work, and in about three hours had four wagon -load:! 
of meat and hides. Returning to camp, we struck tents a I 
once, and set out on the march to Kearney Junction, am 
arrived there the next day just as a large party of panic! 
stricken Pawnees entered it; for they, like ourselves, had 
the utmost fear of encountering their worst foes: the mosi 
deadly hatred exists between both tribes, and they show in; 
mercy to each other whenever they meet. On making in i 
quiries at the telegraph-office, I learned that the marauders 
were stopped by some companies of cavalry, and were sent] 
back to their reservation ; but as I had had enough of hunt | 
ing for the time, I did not return to the valley. 

I heard it estimated in this town that there were over aj 
thousand hunters, including the Indians, in the Republican- 
Valley when we were there, and that every herd in the re] 
gion was in motion at one time. This was evidently the j 
scene I had witnessed, and grand indeed it seemed; it wasl 
one I certainly would not have missed for a good deal. 

I passed through the same valley in 1874, when the 
crops were eaten up by grasshoppers, and persons had 
scarcely anything to live on but meat, and I then learned 
that buffaloes were not considered such nuisances as they, 
had been; for, were it not for them, many of the inhabi- 
tants would have suffered from hunger. 

I have followed the shaggy bison frequently since then, 
but no runs are so distinctly impressed on my memory as 
those of the first two expeditions, as they were my noviti- 
ate in buffalo-hunting, and gave me more experience than 
would a dozen ordinary runs in which there were neither 
mishaps nor disappointments. 

A person does not always escape from a buffalo-hunt 
without any more serious injury than a fall or a few 



THE BUFFALO. 243 

bruises, however, for it is no uncommon incident to have 
a man's horse ripped open by an angry bull, or himself 
trampled or gored to death. I saw an Indian on one oc- 
casion wounded so seriously by a bull that he died in twen- 
tv-four hours after; and I heard of an experienced hunter 
in Montana who got entangled in a large herd, and was 
carried along by it for some distance, only to meet his 
death by being pushed into a chasm by the wild crowd of 
animals behind him, and which followed him to the great 
spirit-land. 

Buffalo-hunting has its comic side sometimes; but those 
who are participators in the comedy do not, as a rule, see 
the fun of the matter. To watch a man on foot legging 
it lively before a pursuing bull is certainly ludicrous to a 
spectator, for his face and eyes seem to fairly bulge out 
with fear, and he makes the most unnecessary leaps, and 
glances about him in the wildest manner to see how affairs 
stand. To watch a man holding on to a horse's tail while 
the animal bucked and circled and galloped to avoid the 
furious charges of an angry Taurus is mirth -provoking; 
and to see a novice, who is well mounted, riding like John 
Gilpin before a rheumatic veteran that can scarcely toddle 
along, is certainly sufficient to cause a smile; and that such 
scenes are not rare is evident from the number of stories 
floating about in the West. By using ordinary precaution, 
one can generally escape any disagreeable predicaments, 
however, if he is at all well horsed ; for much depends on 
the intelligence, speed, and training of the steed. Dr. Car- 
ver, who killed five thousand buffaloes in one season, nearly 
all of which were shot from horseback, did not have a fall 
during that time; and as his horses were too well trained 
to withstand the charges of the bulls, he escaped without 
any serious accident. The pleasure of pursuing the buffa- 
lo will soon be unknown, however, as it is fast disappearing 
before the advance of the pale-faces; for where thousands 
upon thousands were found a few years ago, only a few 
small groups can now be seen; and thej r must soon join 
iheir predecessors, unless a law is passed to protect them. 



244 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE MOOSE. 

The Moose. — Its Range in the West. — Its Form, Haunts, and Habits. — 
The Rutting Season. — Cries of the Animal. — How Males are lured 
within Rifle Range. — Calling as an Art. — How to make a Call. — The 
best Callers. — Young Bulls easily inveigled. — The Best Time for Call- 
ing. — The Moose as a Browser.— Difficulties in stalking it. — Acnteuess 
of its Nose and Ears.— How Experienced Hunters quarter the Ground. 
— Its Haunts in Summer. — Hunting it in Winter. — Dogs and Snow- 
shoes. — The European and American species. — How the Latter can be 
Domesticated. — Hide -hunters. — A Moose -hunt, and its Result. — A 
Charge. — Lost in the Forest. — Trying to find Camp. — A Welcome 
Moose-call. — Rescued. — A Hunt on Snow-shoes. — Episodes. — Number 
of Moose killed. — Difference in Size and Habits between the Eastern 
and Western Species. — Large Antlers. — Moose-hunting as an Art. 

The moose (Alee americanus), which is fast disappear- 
ing from its haunts in the Atlantic States and Canada, is 
still common beyond the Rocky Mountains, being found 
from British America to the mountains of Central Idaho, 
while it is very abundant in Alaska. It does not, in all 
probability, move farther south than the forty-eighth paral- 
lel of latitude, as I never heard of it in Oregon, and bat 
very little in Washington Territory. The Lumni Indians, 
in the north-western portion of this Territory, say that it 
was formerly quite common in their section of country, 
but that it has moved farther into the recesses of the for- 
ests and higher up on the mountains since the advent of 
the white man. That they do not confound it with the 
wapiti, or elk, is evident from the fact that they have a dif- 
ferent name for it, and readily recognize its horns as por- 
trayed in works of natural history. I have heard that it 
is found extensively in the Coeur d'Alene and Kootenay 
Mountains, in Idaho, and is largely hunted by the Koote- 
nay or Long-knife Indians — a wild tribe who inhabit these 



THE MOOSE. 



245 



mountains, and make, or at least did make, it dangerous for 
a stray naturalist or Nimrod to seek knowledge or pleas- 
ure in their country. The red men capture it by means 
of pitfalls and traps made of fallen trees ; but their most 
successful mode is to lie in wait near its watering-places 
land shoot it from under cover when it comes to drink. 
They never follow it for ho.urs and days as their brethren 
in Canada do — for the simple reason that they can obtain 




THE MOOSE. 



food as good with much less trouble, and that they are 
thoroughly indifferent to such feelings as the enthusiasm 
of the chase. One thing may be said in favor of the In- 
dian, and that is, that he seldom destroys the life of a val- 
uable animal needlessly ; hence, probably, the reason why 
he and all wild animals dwell in close proximity; where- 
as the presence of a white man will send them scampering 
off in a very short time, and the chances are that they do 
not return. To this fact might be attributed the expulsion 



•246 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

of the moose from the vicinity of many places settled by i 
■whites on the Pacific Coast, whereas it is common near the 
encampments of some of the Northern red men. Its true; 
range lies between the forty-eighth and sixty-fifth parallels; 
but I should say that, with the exception of those that roam • 
as far as the Grand Coulee of the Columbia, few are to be!, 
found lower than the forty-ninth parallel. Its worst foes ; 
on the Pacific are the Blackfeet of Montana, who organize 
regular expeditions for its pursuit late in the autumn, and, i 
it is said, capture or slay large numbers, they preferring its 
flesh to that of the buffalo. 

This splendid animal differs from all its congeners in 
many features characteristic of the deer family, and this I 
has caused naturalists to class it in a genus by itself. Its \ 
nose is, in the first place, covered with hair, instead of be- ] 
ing naked as in other members of the Cervidce; the nos- 
trils are larger, being huge cavities; the upper lip is long, 
and prehensile; the ears are very large; the horns are pal- 
mated; the neck is short; the limbs are unusually long; the 
body is rather short; the tail is only rudimentary, and both 
sexes have a thick, shaggy mane. It is the largest member 
of its family on the continent, a full-grown stag or bull be- 
ing from four to four and a half feet in height at the shoul- 
der, and weighing from eight to eleven or twelve hundred 
pounds, although its body seldom exceeds seven feet in 
length. Its antlers, which distinguish it so much from its 
kindred, attain a weight of from forty to sixty pounds, 
measuring from root to tip, along the curve, from four to 
five and a half feet, and they are about the same distance 
apart at the points. They do not arrive at' perfection of 
proportions until after the fifth year, when the palm is fre- 
quently twelve inches in width. A male calf produces only 
two small knobs the first season; but in the second these 
attain a length of seven or eight inches, and in the fourth 
they are sufficiently developed to become palmated. The 
antlers are cast in December or January, and appear above 
the skin in March or April ; and so rapidly do they grow 
that, though they are in the "velvet" in July, and so soft 



THE MOOSE. 247 

>| as to bleed very easily, yet by the latter end of August 
i they are hard and full-grown, and their adult owner is then 
I ready to test their eighteen points against all rivals in love. 
I It is only the male, as a rule, that is furnished with these 
I powerful weapons, yet cases have been known in which 
i they also adorned the female. 

The latter, which is much smaller than the male, brings 

; forth her young in May, the number being confined to one 

I at a birth for the first two years, but after that she has two 

. at a time. The calves remain with their mother long after 

J she has ceased nursing them, and, if a herd is together, 

form a permanent portion of it. Gravid females always 

secrete themselves in the densest portion of the forest early 

in the season while carrying their young, and remain there 

until September, when they course over it in search of 

mates, and cause it to resound with their wild, erotic cries. 

The period of gestation is about eight months, and the 

calves are so strong at their birth that they are able to run 

about in a lively manner in the course of a few days. The 

mother is much attached to them; but the same cannot be 

said of the sire, for he is sometimes their worst foe until 

they are able to take care of themselves. 

The rutting season commences in September, and lasts six 
or seven weeks, and during that time, whenever the males 
meet they engage in desperate and often deadly encounters. 
They are so busily engaged in fighting, roaring, and wooing 
during this period that they fade to skeletons, for they eat 
very little; and the haughty monarchs that stalked through 
the forest in September so conscious of strength and proud 
of mien, skulk through it in November, ragged, dingy, list- 
less, and starved-looking wretches. They that would boldly 
face man, if necessary, a few weeks before, would not now 
light a cur; and their only desire seems to be to mope and 
hide themselves in the thickets. 

During the running season the woods resound with the 
cries of the animals that are in search of mates, and persons 
who can imitate the call of the female can then lead many 
a bull to destruction through it. This siren-like cry con- 



248 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

sists of a series of low, deep grants that end in a wild, loud,i 
prolonged, and hideous roar, which may be heard a distance 
of two or three miles on a fine night. The males, on hear- 
ing this, rush toward it from all parts of the forest; and 
should they meet, dire is the result to some of them. The 
female looks on during these contests in the most disinter- 
ested manner, then quietly strolls away with the victor, as 
if to prove the correctness of the adage that "the brave de- 
serve the fair." Some old Indian hunters are excellent call- 
ers ; but it requires natural aptitude for imitating sounds, 
and a long experience to become proficient in the art. The 
best apparatus for "calling" is a tube or trumpet made of 
the flexible bark of the birch. This is generally about an 
inch in diameter at one end, and four or five inches at the 
other, and is eighteen or twenty inches in length. One who 
can use this properly may deceive any erotic male that runs 
in the forest; but let the least false intonation be uttered, 
and even the most unsophisticated youngster would detect 
the imposition, and keep far away from it. One of the 
great secrets in "calling" is to know how to modulate the 
sounds so that the cautious lover may be lured to within 
close range ; for a person cannot afford to waste any lead 
on him, or he might never see him again. 

The "calling" commences in September, and is practised 
only on moonlight nights during the running season; for 
the animals will not respond to it in the daytime, and it 
would be useless to try it on dark nights, as they could not 
be seen in the gloomy forest at any distance, large as they 
are. The weather ought also to be favorable, as the " call " 
is then heard more readily, and the chances of getting a 
good shot are greater. The males respond to it more 
promptly in the earlier than in the later portion of the 
season, and the young are more easily inveigled than the 
adults, whose experience has taught them that " all that 
glitters is not gold." The unsophisticated youngsters are 
sometimes lured within range by merely striking a tree 
with an axe or a rifle ; but no old one can be deceived by 
such a simple device. 



THE MOOSE. 249 

The short neck, long forelegs, and elongated prehensile 
lip prove that the moose is a browser, and not a grazer ; 
hence we find it only in extensive forests, where it can ob- 
tain shelter and a variety of choice food. It is very fond 
of dainty shrubs and the tender shoots of young trees ; but 
its favorite pabulum is the maple, which is, on this account, 
known as moose-wood in portions of Canada and the United 
States. Being naturally timid and wary, the moose fre- 
quents the deepest recesses of the forest, where even the 
most light-footed hunter can hardly approach it undetected, 
for its huge ears and nostrils warn it instantly of danger. 
One would scarcely credit, without proof, the distance to 
which it can wind or hear a person in the woods; and this 
makes stalking it a laborious, and, too often, an unsuccess- 
ful enterprise. The most experienced hunter cannot cir- 
cumvent it under ordinary circumstances ; for should he 
crush a dead stick under foot, brush against decayed leaves 
or branches so as to rustle them, or be to the windward, he 
could not hope to capture it unless he ran it down in the 
snow. Its sight is by no means acute, and it cannot com- 
pete with any of its congeners in this characteristic. This 
is evidently due to the dense and gloomy haunts which it 
generally frequents, and where intensity of vision would be 
useless; but this defect is atoned for by such keenness of 
nose and ear that its loss must be little felt. 

When browsing, the animal makes a very devious path 
that winds in every direction ; and, when it is done feed- 
ing, it lies down to the leeward of its trails, with its head 
to the windward. 

A hunter acquainted with its habits would not, therefore, 
follow its tracks, but would carefully quarter the ground 
against the wind, keep a sharp lookout, and move almost 
as noiselessly as a cat. If persons are hunting together, 
they are liable to bag one by these means, especially if there 
is a stream or a lake in the vicinity. 

Moose may be sought for around woodland tarns in sum- 
mer, as they frequent them to avoid the attacks of flies, 
which are their greatest pests, and to feed on the yellow 

11* 



250 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

lily. In searching for them, the water ought to be care- 
fully scanned, as they are often almost wholly immersed in 
it, the only part appearing above the surface being the nose, 
eyes, ears, and the antlers, the latter looking like snags at a 
distance. In the winter, when the ground is covered with 
snow, herds of females, calves, and young bulls are found 
together in "yards;" but the old males like to wander 
about by themselves, or to form small bachelor parties. 

A moose-yard is simply a feeding -ground, the paths 
through the snow being formed unconsciously by the ani- 
mals while browsing. It is generally found where decidu- 
ous trees are numerous, as the animals like to nibble at 
these in the daintiest manner. After the first heavy fall of 
snow they seldom change their ground ; but if the fall is 
light they frequently do so, and three yards may sometimes 
be found within five miles of each other, especially if young 
trees are numerous, and the herds are large. When the 
young trees have been plucked of their shoots as high as 
the moose can reach, they ride them down with their long 
forelegs, and straddle them until all the tender portions 
have been eaten off. 

When startled hy hounds or hunters, the bulls throw the 
antlers as far back as their straight, short necks will permit 
them, and, with noses in air, dash through dense forests and 
matted thickets with great ease, while their limbs are so 
long that they can step over fallen trees without breaking 
their gait. They are by no means so handsome in looks 
or graceful in motion as their kindred, the wapiti; and 
their fore-shoulders, which are higher than the haunches, 
and their ridge-like withers give them a most ungainly as- 
pect. When running, they make a clattering sound with the 
horny points or spurs of the hoofs, and so distinct a slot or 
track that it may be readily noticed even on dry grass, as 
the hoofs are long and sharp- pointed, and the fore are 
shorter and less tapering than the hinder ones. This form 
of hoof prevents them from running well through deep, 
crusted snow, and the result is that they are readily capt- 
ured, for they break through it easily; whereas their cousin, 



THE MOOSE. 251 

the caribou, with its expansive, broad-pointed, and rounded 
hoof, can travel over it with facility. This fault or defect 
in the moose is probably one reason why it has not been 
domesticated in Northern countries, as the reindeer has, 
although it has many advantages over the latter in size, 
strength, and speed. 

Its congener in Sweden, the European elk, was formerly 
employed as a beast of burden, but the State authorities 
forbade its use after a time, owing to the fact that its su- 
perior speed frequently enabled criminals to escape. As a 
forest traveller the moose has no superior and few equals, 
and its endurance is something extraordinary. Were it 
domesticated, it would be found an invaluable aid to the 
farmer, as its support would cost very little, its flesh 
and hide can be used, and it has apparently the strength 
of any ordinary horse. It is easily tamed if captured 
young, and is inclined to be confident and affectionate if 
kindly treated ; but during the rutting period the males 
are liable to be headstrong and pugnacious, if not danger- 
ous. One generation of domestication might, however, 
eradicate these qualities, and render it as docile as a cow. 
It would make a capital steed for mounted scouts or cou- 
riers in a rough or w T ooded country; but I would rather 
be off its back if any manoeuvres were to be executed, or 
any firing took place. 

The usual methods of hunting this monarch of the Cer- 
vidcB is to stalk it, "call" it within range during the rut- 
ting season, run it down on snow-shoes during a heavy fall 
of snow, or drive it with dogs until it is brought to bay in 
a snow-bank, or is exhausted. The first two methods are 
legitimate sport, as they bring out the qualities of the hunt- 
er; but the last two are merely taking advantage of the 
animal's inability to travel in deep snow, then assassinat- 
ing it. 

The Indians of the Far West capture it by means of pit- 
falls, lying in wait near its haunts and shooting it as it 
passes them, and by grand drives, in which probably two 
or three hundred warriors are sometimes engaged. Some 



252 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

of the Indians of the Territories and portions of British 
America have an annual drive, in which they slaughter the 
poor creatures in large numbers; but they, unlike the 
wretched white "skin-hunters," utilize the meat for mak- 
ing pernmican, and the hides for making clothing, snow- 
shoes, and moccasins ; whereas the latter leave the carcass 
to rot on the ground, taking only the hide. They also de- 
stroy without regard to sex, and gravid females and calves 
are slaughtered as readily as old bulls. These hides bring, 
in winter, when the coat is inclined to be dark and the in- 
ner hair close and woolly, from four to five dollars ; and 
for this sum men travel weary miles and destroy some of 
the finest animals on the continent with a recklessness of 
consequences worse than barbarous. If the destruction 
continues as it has been carried on heretofore, the animal 
will soon be a memory of the past, and will be known only 
through works on natural history. 

I have not had as much experience in hunting it as other 
large game ; for in the Far West, where it is common, it 
was dangerous to frequent its haunts a few years ago, ow- 
ing to the enmity of the Indians against all intruders on 
their preserves, and the fact that white men could only fol- 
low it with safety in large parties, as it was a stranger in 
places settled by them. 

I have followed it in several portions of the continent, 
however, from Maine to Western British America ; but I 
must say that the hunters I accompanied were more fre- 
quently unsuccessful than otherwise, owing to its extreme 
caution and speed, and the wooded and often mountainous 
character of its home. All my expeditions were not fail- 
ures, however, and I have enjoyed some delightful sport 
with it that atoned for laborious days and nights spent in 
its vain pursuit. In Idaho and Montana, where it is still 
quite numerous, sportsmen who are strangers in these coun- 
tries must take guides and camping outfits with them; 
and if they do not slay dozens of moose, they will at least 
have the pleasure of beholding some of the wildest and 
grandest scenery on the continent. 



THE MOOSE. 25 3 

On one of my moose-hunting excursions I accompanied 
a rancher, who seemed to devote as much attention to the 
chase as to farming, and an Indian who did odd jobs about 
his place. This trusty retainer had the usual antipathy of 
his race to continuous labor; so I have a suspicion that lie 
was kept more for his fondness of the chase than for any 
other reason. He was also an excellent shot, a close ob- 
server of the haunts and habits of animals, and could skin 
them as rapidly and cleanly as the most expert butcher, 
while he was deemed uni'ivalled as a curer of their hides 
and as a maker of beaded moccasins. 

Reaching a position in the dense forest where " signs " 
were numerous, we selected the shade of a large fir-tree as 
a site for a primitive camp, built a fire there, and, after sup- 
per, devoted ourselves to puffing tobacco-smoke until the 
moon began to creep from under a mass of clouds. This 
was the signal for us to commence operations, so we load- 
ed our rifles, and, the Indian taking a light axe and a hunt- 
ing-knife with him, we marched about a mile from camp. 
We could hear at intervals, as we advanced, the short, gut- 
tural sounds of the bulls, and the wild, prolonged roar or 
call of the cows. When we reached a good position, where 
the undergrowth was heavy and the space in front open, 
the hunter and myself sought shelter in the shrubbery 
close together, while the Indian climbed a tree; and, as 
soon as he was comfortably seated on a branch, he com- 
menced calling with such exactitude that I could only tell 
his cry from that of a cow by its proximity. After wait- 
ing patiently for half an hour, we heard his summons an- 
swered by deep grumblings from two directions close by ; 
and, on hearing these, he lowered his call, making it deep 
and subdued, as if the female were in a most loving frame 
of mind ; and this was repeated three or four times in dif- 
ferent keys, being now loud, fierce, and emphatic, anon 
sinking into a low, long-drawn grunt. A few minutes 
later, and two splendid bulls came crashing through the 
forest from opposite directions, about two hundred yards 
away. Both reached the open space at nearly the same 



254 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

time, and just as the deceptive red man was giving vent to 
a low and most loving grunt. On seeing each other, they 
forgot the call of love, however ; and after gazing sternly at 
one another for a few moments, and uttering cries of defi- 
ance, they charged at full speed, and, meeting with a clang- 
ing thud, were soon engaged in a desperate fight. They 
struggled and pushed, and tried to get every advantage of 
each other, but they were too evenly matched for either to 
win an immediate victory. Their horns clashed and gave 
forth a dull sound not unlike that produced by men fen- 
cing rapidly with foils; but this was frequently drowned 
by the tearing up of the ground, the scattering of the \ 
leaves, the crashing of bushes, and the deep grunts of the 
combatants. 

The contest was waging about five minutes, perhaps, 
when the Indian ran up to us and said that we might be 
able to kill both if we could steal upon them unawares. 
We accordingly crept out of the thicket, and, advancing ! 
as noiselessly and as rapidly as possible up wind, got with- ' 
in thirty yards of them undetected, for they were oblivi- 
ous of everything but the struggle, and, securing a shelter 
behind a tree, and in a position where the moonbeams 
streamed in clearly, we took aim at them while their ant- 
lers were locked, fired, and when the smoke cleared away 
we saw one on his knees, and the other trying to unlock 
the entangled horns. I fired at the latter twice in rapid 
succession, and had the satisfaction of seeing him stagger, 
then fall over on his side. On approaching them, we found 
the shoulder of the first one to be broken; but, as he was 
not dead, the Indian finished him in a few moments by giv- 
ing him three or four blows on the head with the axe. 

Both animals proved to be in excellent condition, and 
were evidently full grown, as one boasted eighteen points 
on his antlers, and the other sixteen. Having "drawn" 
them, we covered them with boughs and leaves, marked 
their position, then sallied out for new trophies. 

Moving onward cautiously, a walk of two miles or more 
brought us into a charming coppice of foliaceous trees of 



THE 3100.SE. 255 

several varieties; and as it bad the appearance of being a 
favorite feeding resort of the moose, we decided to halt 
there and test our luck. It was also recommended to us 
by the density of the coniferous forest in front, from which 
issued at intervals the hideous roars and nightmarish 
grunts of the animals. Having satisfied ourselves about 
the advantage of the copse as a cover, I went to one end, 
and my companion to another, while the Indian took up 
his quarters in a tree-top about three hundred yards behind 
and nearly equidistant from us. 

When he had established himself comfortably he com- 
menced his deer lay of love, and grunted and roared out 
his erotic strains for two hours with a perseverance and 
artistic finish most highly commendable; but neither cau- 
tious veteran nor impulsive young bull came within rifle 
range, although they answered him vigorously several 
times from various directions. Thinking that the animals 
might have winded me, and therefore kept away, I threw 
up a leaf, and saw from its course that I was to the lee- 
ward of the majority of the vocalists who had answered 
the call ; so I decided that being winded was not the cause 
of their non-appearance. As the vigil was becoming weari- 
some, and I was getting sleepy, it being past midnight, 
and the moose seemed indifferent to the red man's persist- 
ent appeals, I concluded to start for camp; but before I 
had made up my mind to move, a sturdy young bull came 
clashing through the forest, and, on coming into an open 
spot, stopped suddenly, bent his long head forward to catch 
the exact direction of the sweet strains, and commenced 
sniffing the air, as if trying to detect the presence of a foe. 

He was scarcely forty yards from me, and, feeling rather 
nervous about him, I fired just as he attempted to advance, 
but I only succeeded in breaking one of his forelegs. When 
he recovered from the shock and surprise he bolted at once 
for the heavy forest, and, as I did not want to lose him, I 
followed in hot pursuit. I found this hard work, however, 
as I could only catch a glimpse of him occasionally; and 
the only real guide I had to follow his course was the 



256 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

crashing of the boughs and bushes. Realizing the truth 
of the old adage that a stern chase is a long one, even after 
a wounded moose, I concluded to cut to the right in a 
straight line, as he seemed inclined to keep more in that 
direction than in any other, and to head him off, or at least 
to induce him to halt by stopping the noise behind him ; 
and acting on this idea, I tore through the woods as rap- 
idly as possible, and after running about what I should 
judge to be a mile, I emerged on a glade, but, on scanning 
it, I could see nothing animate there. I walked over a por- | 
tion of it, and scrutinized the ground for "signs" as care- 
fully as the pale moon would permit me, but I could find , 
no indications of the presence of a moose. Feeling sorely < 
disappointed at my want of good-luck, I concluded to go <i 
back to camp ; but, on re-entering the forest, I could not ! 
tell in winch direction it lay. I started, however, toward j 
where I supposed it was, and wandered about for two j 
hours, yet I seemed as far away from it as ever. Realizing ! 
the fact that I was actually getting lost in an unknown 
forest, my feelings were anything but cheerful, and I began 
to upbraid my own thoughtlessness for daring to follow an 
animal in a region of which I knew nothing, and did not 
even take the precaution to note. I did not know what to 
do. To rest, I could not ; and to keep wandering aimlessly 
about I felt to be worse than useless, as every step might 
take me farther away from succor. After thinking the 
matter carefully over, I concluded to stop where I was un- 
til morning, if I could not get a response to some shouts, 
and try to retrace my footsteps by the tracks they had 
made. I commenced hallooing accordingly, but after keep- 
ing it up at intervals for half an hour, I stopped it, and re- 
signed myself to fate. 

Feeling fatigued, I sat down beneath a huge fir, placed 
my head against the trunk, and was soon fast asleep ; and 
when I awoke the next morning the bright rays of the sun 
were streaming through my leafy chamber. On arising, I 
felt quite stiff, the night dew having chilled, and my un- 
usual position cramped me. Giving myself half a dozen 



THE MOO HE. 251 

good shakes to avouse the blood to more vigorous action, 
and rubbing my eyes to dissipate the effect of lingering 
sleep, I commenced a search for camp once more. My first 
movement was to note where my footsteps had led me, and, 
after following them for an hour or more, found I had been 
wandering about in circles, which sometimes crossed each 
other, and had a general trend to the right. 

I knew then that I was really lost, and had acted as near- 
ly all persons do under the same circumstances ; but as I 
had daylight to aid me I did not feel any great sense of 
alarm, and went about retracing my footsteps in the calm- 
est manner. I first commenced to beat about in order to 
discover tracks that did not trend to the right, and, after a 
long search, I saw some that evidently led to the glade in 
which I first missed my bearings. This was a most wel- 
come discoveiy, as I felt that I could not be far away from 
camp ; so I commenced retracing them at a rapid rate. 
This was not a very difficult matter ; for, by scanning the 
ground a little in advance with a quick glance, I could see, 
by the trampled grass and bushes, the lightness of the dew 
in some places, and an occasional distinctly marked foot- 
print, the route I had taken. 

While deeply engaged in this pleasant duty, I was 
startled by hearing a thundering crashing a short distance 
to my left, and, on looking in that direction, I saw the 
cause of my woe, the wounded bull, hopping away on three 
legs through the undergrowth. Forgetting everything but 
bis presence in a moment, I started after him, and in less 
than twenty minutes headed him off by taking short cuts, 
and, as he passed by me within a distance of seventy yards, 
I fired at his head, and he fell on his antlers. When I ap- 
proached him he was shaking his head violently, and roar- 
ing and grunting as if he wei*e in the greatest agony. Sup- 
posing that I had hit him in some vital part, and not caring 
to fire another shot unless it was actually necessary, I ad- 
vanced toward him heedlessly ; but on reaching within a 
few yards of him I halted, as his tongue was out, and his 
eyes fairly blazed with rage and hate. While looking at 



258 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE EAR WEST. 

him, be bounded suddenly on bis legs, and charged me 
with the greatest impetuosity; but, though surprised, I 
did not wait the onslaught, but dodged behind a large 
tree, and, ere he could bear down on me, I had reloaded 
my rifle and given him its contents directly through one of 
his huge ears with a result most fatal to him, for he fell 
dead in his tracks. After enjoying my victory, and medi- 
tating for a short time on the law of compensation and the 
result of accidental circumstances, I started in search of 
camp once more. 

Hoping that my companions were out looking for me, I 
commenced shouting as loudly as I could, but no respon- 
sive voice came back except the echoes of the forest. See- 
ing I could do nothing in that way, I tried firing the rifle; 
and though every tree and shrub seemed to carry its deto- 
nations afar, I listened in vain for the welcome answer. 
After travelling, shouting, and firing for three hours, and 
trying to retrace my footsteps — a feat which was beyond ' 
my power, owing to the various directions in which they 
led — I sat down near a small lake, as I was somewhat faint 
from hunger, and I wanted to think out, if possible, how I 
could extricate myself from the perilous situation in which 
I was placed. After a short rest, and a delightful drink of 
water, which revived me very much, I commenced explor- 
ing the lake to see if I could find a canoe upon it, or any 
indications that it was visited by man, even at a remote 
period. My explorations were futile, however, for I did 
not find a vestige of a human being in any direction. 
Thoroughly disheartened, I sat down once more to indulge 
in another painful meditation, and, while musing on my dis- 
agreeable situation, my heart gave a tremendous bound ; 
for I heard afar off the call of the moose, and knowing it 
did not cry in the daytime, I felt it was the signal of my 
companions. Noting carefully whence the sound came — 
for woods, owing to their echoing character, are often de- 
ceptive — I started toward it at a brisk pace, and answered 
it occasionally by a loud halloo, and after walking about 
half an hour had the satisfaction of hearino- it closer to me. 



THE MOOSE. 259 

I then commenced firing my rifle as I advanced, and in a 
short time heard an answering shot. This was a most de- 
lightful sensation, and with an elastic step I strode through 
the forest, and in twenty minutes after, guided by shouts 
and rifle reports, I found myself shaking hands with my 
friends. 

A short conversation informed me that I had wandered 
over ten miles from camp, and that, if I had not moved in 
a circle, I would probably have been irretrievably lost in 
the unknown forest, unless I met, by the merest chance, 
some hunting-party. They had been out searching for me 
since morning, and had tracked me up to the place where I 
turned to the right the previous night, while chasing the 
moose. When they reached that point they saw trails of 
blood, and followed them up for some distance, thinking I 
had followed the animal directly ; but not finding my foot- 
steps, they concluded that I had halted there and awaited 
daylight to return to camp. When I did not return, how- 
ever, they sallied out again, presuming I had been lost; and 
knowing how men will act in such a situation, they quar- 
tered the woods, and used the moose -call, as it could be 
heard a long distance off. Were they not provided with 
that simple instrument, it is doubtful if they could have 
found me, and I might now be in another world. Return- 
ing to camp, about three miles distant, I made a hearty 
breakfast of the moufle of a moose and some cakes baked 
hefore the fire, and soon felt as jovial as if I had never 
strayed from it. 

After bringing in the animals that were first killed, Ave 
started in quest of the cause of my woe, and had little diffi- 
culty in tracking him by his slots and the drops of blood, 
until we reached the spot where he had laid down. From 
that point we followed him easily, and were soon beside 
him. A hungry panther had been feasting off him, how- 
ever, while I had been away, for a large portion of the 
throat and shoulder were eaten off, and scarcely a drop of 
blood remained in the body. As he was too far from camp 
to be hauled there, he was skinned, and the carcass left for 



260 SPORTING ADVENTUMEU IN THE FAR WEST. 

the use of carnivorous birds and quadrupeds. I learned, 
on my way back, that my hunting companion had also been 
charged by an infuriated wounded bull the previous night, 
and only escaped by having the Indian come to his aid just 
in time. We had, therefore, killed four moose on that oc- 
casion ; no bad result for one night's work. 

"Calling" moose is certainly exciting sport, and is full 
of incidents, some of which may not, as in my own case, be 
very pleasant for the time being, yet they are interesting to 
recall in after-years. To still-hunt the moose successfully, 
a person must resort to the same means employed in stalk- 
ing any other wary animal ; but if he does not know their 
habits, he will in the majority of cases, or at least in a large 
percentage of them, get only his pains for his labor, unless 
he has unusual good-luck, or is favored by accident. 

Running them down is practised only in winter, when 
the snow is deep on the ground ; and this requires endur- 
ance and perseverance on the part of the hunter rather than 
skill. It is resorted to principally by Indians who want 
meat, or by white men who want the skin ; and as they 
can travel on snow-shoes at a rapid pace while the poor 
moose are constantly sinking into the drifts, if the crust is 
not strong enough to support them, the latter are of course 
soon exhausted, and bleeding from wounds in the legs. To 
kill them in this way is only butchery, as they can neither 
resist nor escape. Hunting the animal with hounds in win- 
ter is a more spirited sport ; but in this case, also, it is 
brought to bay through exhaustion, and is slaughtered as 
easily as a cow ; for while its attention is engaged with the 
dogs, all the hunter has to do is to knock it on the head 
with an axe, or blow its brains out with a rifle or revolver. 
The Indians, and some white men, frequently follow it for 
two or three days at a time on snow-shoes, and finally run 
it down, as the deep snow through which it must flounder 
fatigues it speedily, and each day's chase only renders it 
more easy of capture the next. 

During one of my days of idleness I accompanied a 
snow-shoe party who were going out on a moose -hunt. 



THE MOOSE. 261 

We had several dogs of all breeds, from terriers to fox- 
hounds, with us, and one mongrel that was a combination of 
bull-dog and greyhound. This individual would not only 
run down but boldly attack a moose; hence his fame was 




SNOW-SHOE. 



great, and many were the laudations he received. Our 
route led through a heavy forest, where the ground was 
deeply covered with snow having a hard but rather light 
crust. When we reached a favorable situation we scatter- 
ed out and commenced searching for " signs," and quarter- 
ed in every direction to the windward. After beating a 
tract of four or five square miles, we struck a large yard 
that was surrounded by a wall of snow three or four feet 
deep, and was traversed in every direction by well-beaten 
paths. This must have had an area of two or three square 
miles, as the trails led into a dense thicket of foliaceous 
trees, which we subsequently found to be three miles from 
where we first met the yard. On reaching this most wel- 
come spot, the dogs, which had been kept to heel before, 
were now set to work, and in a few moments we heard a 
tremendous howl in many keys directly in front. We knew 
then that the game was started, and away we sped in pur- 
suit at our best pace. As I was not very proficient in the 
use of snow-shoes, I found the run exceedingly laborious, 
and often sent myself sprawling on the hard snow by my 
awkwardness. I also collided against trees occasionally, 
and brought their white covering in showers over my 
person. These might be pleasant enough if a portion did 
not go down my neck and back, and make me shiver as if 
I had been dipped in ice-water. The suddenness of the 
showers also took my breath away sometimes, but the 



262 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

effect of the shock was soon dissipated by streams of 
perspiration. 

The baying was rapidly waning in the distance, and my 
companions had all vanished, when I concluded to halt to 
tighten one of my shoes which had become loose. While 
engaged in that endeavor I saw a splendid young bull ap- 
proaching, evidently on his way back to the yard, and the 
only dog in pursuit was an active, wire-haired terrier that 
was too busily engaged in snipping at his heels to have 
time to give tongue. The bull went right through the 
deep snow at every plunge, and the result was that lie was 
almost pumped, while his legs were bleeding from the 
wounds inflicted by the crust. The terrier, on seeing me, 
began to wag its tail, and to bark and gambol around the 
unwieldy creature that could not resent its annoyance ; 
but when it placed itself in front, and commenced to growl 
and show its teeth and snip at him, the maddened moose 
made several dashes at it with his horns. This pestering 
prevented him from seeing where he was going ; so he 
floundered into a large drift nearly deep enough to swal- 
low him up, and, while he was struggling to extricate him- 
self from that position, I approached and shot him through 
the head; but after I had done it I did not feel very proud 
of my exploit, as it resembled too closely the shooting of a 
bound bull. He was so deeply mired that, even when dead, 
he did not fall over, but stuck in his position, an inanimate 
statue. 

Before I had decided what next to do, one of the party, 
who had been following his tracks, arrived, and with his 
aid, and a sturdy bough, we prised him out on the crusted 
surface. Some of the others were equally successful, and 
our day's sport — if sport it could be called — netted us 
eight cows, calves, and young bulls out of probably fifteen 
or twenty that were in the yard. This is a specimen of 
nearly all runs in the snow, so one may see how much real 
hunting there is in it. 

A moose-drive as conducted by the Indians is a verita- 
ble slaughter, and is about on a par with a pheasant battue, 



THE 3I00SE. 263 

but with this exception, that those taking part in it must 
exert themselves to a certain extent, and display a knowl- 
edge of the haunts and habits of the animal. Previous to 
commencing the drive, a grand moose- dance is held, in 
which all the so-called braves join ; and, when this is ended, 
they, accompanied by their families, dogs, and horses, and 
all the paraphernalia of an encampment, start for the forest 
in September or October, when the moose have left their 
woodland recesses, and are running boldly about in search 
of mates. Selecting a locality where the animals are nu- 
merous, they form a large cordon, and, by beating and 
shouting, drive them toward a common centre, where they 
are slaughtered indiscriminately, and not only them, but all 
four-footed game they meet. In this manner they hunt the 
forest for miles, and sweep it almost clean of all edible 
quadrupeds ; and if they can manage to bag a grizzly, great 
is their joy thereat. 

At other times they place men in concealment in a moun- 
tain pass, or one that leads to water or connects two lakes, 
and the remainder drive the moose toward them. When 
the animals enter this gorge or pass of death, they cannot 
well advance or retreat without running past a line of fire, 
and the result is that hundreds fall in a week. The moose 
are skinned by the squaws after the drive is over, and their 
flesh is made into pemmican, or eaten fresh, viscera and all. 
The meat is generally excellent, but is sometimes tough; 
the fat part is delicious, however, at all times. The nose or 
mourle is very good, and is much like the tail of the beaver 
in flavor. Many persons consider this the best part, and 
are extravagant in its praise ; but I would always prefer a 
good sirloin off a two-year-old cow in good condition. 

The moose of the North-west, unlike their congeners in 
the eastern portion of the United States and Canada, do 
not yard, as a rule, but travel in pairs, or, at most, four or 
six together. They are more abundant, however, and less 
cautious, owing to their immunity from the rifles of skin- 
hunters; hence a good shot ought to be able to make a 
good bag in the wooded mountainous regions of Idaho, 



2G4 SFORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 





MOOSE-mTNTING. 



Montana, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Alaska. They 
are very common on the Yukon River in the latter Terri- 
tory, and are useful to the Indians, as their bones supply 
them with arrows, needles, spear-points, and knives; their 
skins are used for clothing and for making wigwams; and 
the flesh is eaten fresh, or made into pemmican. 

The Western species is larger than the Eastern, I fancy; 
at least I have seen some there that in height, and in the 
width, length, and massiveness of their antlers, excelled any 
of their kindred I saw in the forests of Maine or Canada, 
One of the largest pair probably ever brought to London 






THE MOOSE. 265 

had the following dimensions : outside measure of horns, 
sixty -two inches; across the blade, points not included, 
twenty inches; circumference above burr, seven and a 
quarter inches ; length of the blade, thirty-nine inches. 

To hunt moose successfully requires the display of the 
highest qualities of an Indian Nimrod ; for cautiousness, 
patience, perseverance, endurance, acuteness of vision, and 
a knowledge of woodcraft and the habits of animals, are 
far more requisite than bravery and expertness with the 
rifle. Whoever, therefore, is a good moose -stalker may 
claim to have reached the highest pinnacle of the venatic 
art, and may safely compete with any man as a forest- 
hunter. 



266 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE ELK, OR WAPITI. 

The Wapiti.— Its Range, Haunts, Habits, and Gait. — Fierce Contests be- 
tween the Males. — How they may be detected by the "Shaking."— 
Courage of the Elk. — Two Men charged by a Couple in Oregon. — The 
Escape. — Novel Mode of killing it in the North-west. — Thousands I 
never saw Man. — When started, said not to stop until it crosses Water. 
— How Herds run when in Flight. — Their Speed and Endurance. — The 
Elk as a Roadster and Saddle Animal. — Hide-hunters. — Great Slaugh- | 
■ter of the Animal.- — Why Hinds lead the Columns. — How to Hunt it ■ 
successfully in the Forest and on the Plains. — Dr. Carver's Great Feat. ! 
— The best Weapons. — How to Shoot on Horseback. — The most Ex- ; 
citing Run I ever had after it.— Bagging a Stag. — Pursuit of a Hind, { 
and why she was Captured. — Escape of a Fawn. — Surprised by Indians. \ 
— The Assembly. — Our Plans and Stratagems. — A Running Fight.— 
Loss of the Indians. — Find Refuge in a Chasm. — Death of one of our 
Men. — He is mutilated, and burned to Death. — Our Retreat. — Suffer 
from Hunger. — Loss of our Camp, and Escape of the Camp Guard.— 
Where we found Safety. — A Scalp Dance. — Unusual Abundance of 
large Game. — We kill sixty Elks in Colorado. — Lassoing Fawns.— 
Visions of the Sport. 

The so-called elk, or wapiti (Cervus canadensis), is found 
in every grand division of the region west of the Rocky 
Mountains, its range extending from California in the south 
to British America in the north; but it is most numerous 
between the parallels of thirty-eight and fifty-two, where, 
in many instances, it was formerly seen in herds numbering 
from fifty to five thousand. It is more abundant in the 
Coast Range, where it passes through Oregon and Wash- 
ington Territory, than in any other section, so far as I could 
learn ; yet it is also common in the wooded portions of 
Northern California, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, 
Dakota, British Columbia, and in the beautiful and ex- 
tensive natural parks of Colorado. Being exceedingly 
gregarious in habit, where one is found there are sure to 




^^^W^:^if^^ 



f ! i_i_ j] i'?.. 



WAPITI DEER. 



THE ELK, Olt WAPITI. 269 

be others ; and in many places they spread over the coun- 
try like small herds of domestic cattle. This antlered 
monarch of the forest stands about as high as a horse, and 
often attains a weight of eight hundred pounds. Having 
strong though lithe limbs, a full body, large dark eyes, and 
a splendid head, which is adorned with magnificent branch- 
ing antlers five or six feet in length, and bearing from five 
to seven prongs each, it is, in my estimation, the finest 
specimen of its family on the continent. It has a proud, 
defiant, yet graceful mien, which makes it one of the most 
superb adjuncts to a landscape, and its very gait is enough 
to arouse the ardor of the most unimpressible sportsman, 
it being the acme of easy yet vigorous motion. Its antlers, 
which are highly prized for adorning dining-rooms, fre- 
quently weigh from fifty to sixty pounds, so that they are 
fit trophies to grace the proudest baronial halls. They 
sometimes assume eccentric shapes; for it is no very unu- 
sual sight to see a burly stag with one of his antlers largely 
palmated, and the other curving downward, instead of up- 
ward, so that it resembles the bend of the horns so marked 
in the mountain sheep. Such antlers are deemed to be 
unusually valuable, as their eccentricity is highly prized by 
collectors and ardent lovers of the chase. 

During the summer the color of the wapiti is a reddish- 
chestnut, but it becomes darker in the autumn, and in win- 
ter the hairs are tipped with a pale brown. The male has 
long hairs on the neck and breast at all seasons, except the 
summer, but these the female never possesses. The for- 
mer has a bell of hairs on the throat that frequently at- 
tains a length of five or six inches, but it seems to be long- 
est on the largest species. 

The sexes differ considerably in size, the female being 
much the smaller, and, unlike the antelope, she is devoid 
of antlers ; yet one has been known occasionally to possess 
these useful appendages — a thing by no means uncommon 
in the deer family. The animal ruts in September; but 
the season being short, the sportsman will find the stags 
in good condition about the latter end of November, and 



270 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



I 



ready to test to the fullest his powers and endurance. 
Many of them are shot during the running season by red 
and white hunters; as their melodious whistles, when call- 
ing for the females, readily indicate their presence, and 
lead the hunters to their quarters, when the slaughter is 
commenced. Their whistle is most peculiar, and differs 
widely from that of all other deer; indeed, so strongly 
marked is it that a person having heard it once would 
recognize it among the voices of a thousand animals. I 
never knew a person who could imitate it well, and this 
has prevented hunters from calling them as they do the 
moose and other deer. The difficulty in imitating the call 
is due to its varied character, it being composed of several 
parts. The first part consists of a shrill and prolonged 
whistle, which sometimes sounds afar off, although the ani- 
mal uttering it may be very near a person, and this is fol- 
lowed by four or five deep brays or grunts, which end in 
a low, soft, and musical bellow, not displeasing to the ear, 
no matter how acutely it may have been attuned to har- 
mony and melody. I have noticed, as a fact that struck 
me as being peculiar, that the bravest and largest wild ani- 
mals always had deep voices, and that they were generally 
melodious — full of music, as it were — while the small fry, 
which would run from a common cur, had high, sharp 
voices. I have hunted with some of the bravest men, the 
best scouts, and the most famous hunters in the West, and 
I found that they also had deep, heavy tones, as a rule; 
and I deduced from this that the highest order of animals, 
those that were brave and daring, were always deep in 
voice, and that their intonations never jarred on the ear. 
When I saw that the heroes in an opera were the tenors, 
it struck me as an odd idea that thin-voiced animals were 
seldom so courageous in actual life as their deeper-voiced 
congeners, and this has caused me to express it here to see 
if it is in any way founded on fact, or whether it is a mere 
artificial system of display. 

If the males meet during these whistling tournaments, 
long and severe is the battle they wage, and the weaker 



THE ELK, OR WAPITI. 271 

often gives his life to the stronger for his presumption in 
rival gallantry. The hinds bring forth their young in May 
or June, but their families are confined to one at a time, 
twins being unknown. The calf, which is spotted like the 
fawn of a deer, is a beautiful creature, and so active that 
it is able to run about with its dam in the course of a few 
days after its birth. The mother is very much attached to 
it, and fights bravely in its defence, if necessary, with head 
and feet; but the best protectors are the males. 

The latter wander away from the herd during the spring 
and early summer, and secrete themselves in the thickest 
underbrush while they are growing their antlers; and their 
presence is then readily detected by the shaking of the un- 
dergrowth, against which they are almost constantly rub- 
bing their irritated frontal appendages. They may be 
easily approached from the leeward during that time, as 
the swaying of the shrubbery produces noise enough to 
drown the hunter's footsteps, and the animals are lost to 
everything but the alleviation of their irritation. Many 
skin -hunters — that is, those who hunt them for the hide 
alone — kill numbers of them while engaged in the " shak- 
ing," as hunters call it, and leave the meat to rot on the 
ground, or to furnish food to carnivorous birds and quad- 
rupeds. 

The production of the horns makes a heavy drain on the 
strength of the stag, and the result is that he is thinner and 
weaker in July than the hind, which has been nursing her 
young one for perhaps two months. By the latter end of 
August he is in splendid condition, however ; and his mag- 
nificent antlers being then full grown, he roams through 
the forest and over the plain in all his majesty, ever ready, 
like the knight of old, to woo the gentle sex or to measure 
his strength against eveiy rival for the love of the deer- 
ladies. How proudly he struts ! how defiantly he stares 
at all foes except man ! and how grandly he shows his 
strength and speed as he takes his long and measured 
paces over hill and dale, and through the light coppice or 
dense forest! During the running season he seems ready 



272 SPURTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



; 



to meet all enemies, not excepting man himself, if pushed 
to it ; and he generally comes off first best with any quad- 
ruped of less importance than a grizzly. I saw a proud 
fellow on one occasion engaged in mortal combat with a 
black bear that must have weighed at least three hundred 
pounds; but before the latter could use its great strength 
and powerful claws to any advantage, the former pierced 
it with his magnificent antlers, and after two or three 
charges left it dead on the ground. Stamping upon it two 
or thi'ee times with one of his forelegs, he gave a snort 
and a defiant look around, as if seeking for new foes, and, 
finding none, he gazed once more on the slain, then trotted 
off into the damp, dense forest. I was close enough to 
have shot him easily; but I refrained from injuring such 
a noble, spirited creature, for the sake of the pluck he had 
displayed. 

That he will boldly face man when brought to bay, I 
have received the most authentic accounts. Two men in 
Oregon, who were employed to carry the mail to a small 
settlement with which there was no communication except 
by an Indian trail that led over a high and thickly wooded 
mountain, or by following the sea-shore when the tide was 
out, were arrested on one of their trips by the presence of 
two elks, a male and a female, that boldly barred the path 
in front of them, and manifested no inclination to leave it. 
This path was bounded on the upper side by huge crags 
which no four-footed animal could leap or clamber over, 
and the lower by high, wooded cliffs that rose perpendicu- 
larly upward from the boiling sea, so that neither party 
could very well advance or retreat, or move to the right or 
left, without suffering a serious inconvenience or endanger- 
ing their lives. The men, being unarmed, dared not ad- 
vance, and the elks being placed between the two horns of 
the dilemma of which would be best, either to face their 
most dreaded enemy, or meet death by hurling themselves 
off the cliff, hesitated about what to do. The men, seeing 
that they were undecided in their purpose, yelled loudly at 
them, and this startled them so much that they wheeled 



THE ELK, OR WAPITI. 273 

about suddenly, broke over a rise of the mountain, and dis- 
appeared from view. One of the men, remembering that 
the tide was full, and that the animals could not cross a 
small bay that divided two cliffs in the sea then raging, 
predicted they would return and charge them rather than 
face the surf; and the words were scarcely uttered before 
they reappeared over the rise, the male in advance. Low- 
ering his horns almost to the ground, he charged upon 
them at his best pace ; but they evaded him by swinging 
themselves out of his course by means of two young firs, 
and, when the hind passed, they resumed their march, 
thoroughly thankful for their escape from an ignominious 
death. They took excellent care after that to go armed, 
and this resolution saved their lives several times from the 
attacks of wild animals. Under ordinary circumstances, 
however, the elk is as timid as any member of its family, 
and a cur will keep a herd in motion all day. 

The usual method of killing it in the forests of the 
North-west is by stalking ; and where it is little hunted it 
may be approached from the leeward to within easy rifle 
range, and a herd almost destroyed before the survivors 
become alarmed enough to seek safety in flight. I have 
killed five out of a herd of twenty in the Coast Mountains 
before the remainder got out of range, and I could have 
killed as many more if I wished, by following them up ; 
for they showed no fear of me, and seemed to look upon 
me more as a strange than a dangerous creature, if I should 
judge from their stupid stare, and their indifference to the 
reports of the rifle. Thousands of them in Oregon, Wash- 
ington Territory, "Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana never 
saw man, and have no fear of him if he is to their leeward ; 
but let them once sniff him to the windward, and they 
would be off like a shot, nor would they stop until they 
had placed many a mile between him and themselves. If 
they are once started in an alarmed condition, hunters say 
they will not halt until they have crossed a stream or lake ; 
but while this is true in many cases, especially in the open 
or in sparsely wooded valleys, it does not hold good in the 

12* 



274 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

dense forest, for I have routed the same herd three times 
in one day ; and that it was the same, I inferred from the I 
presence of two wounded animals, and the fact that it was 
led by a splendid hind. 

When a herd is started, the males throw their cumbrous 
antlers far back on the neck, so that the nose is high in 
the air. One might imagine that they could not see the 
ground very well under these circumstances ; but whether 
they do or do not, they trot through dense shrubbery and 
over fallen trees with the greatest ease, and never falter or 
break their gait, no matter what ordinary obstacles they 
may have to surmount. Their pace is a long, measured 
trot, which carries them pver the ground at a rapid rate. 
They can, I fancy, trot a mile several seconds under four 
minutes, and, if pushed, might do it in three minutes. On 
open or rocky ground they can put a good horse to his 
mettle to overtake them, if they have a fair start, nor must 
he lag on closing with them, if he would keep them com- 
pany. They seem to be able to move at the same pace 
over all kinds of ground, and it appears to be a matter of 
indifference to them whether it is one mass of stones, ruts, 
and hillocks, or a level prairie. This is where they have 
the advantage over horses, and why it is so difficult to run 
them down in a rough country. I have done it, however; 
but in nearly all cases I broke their trot first, and this fa- 
tigued them so promptly that I was able to pull along-side 
and give them the contents of a revolver or rifle. They 
can go twenty or thirty miles easily without showing signs 
of weariness or flagging, and, if forced to it, I am in- 
clined to think they could go a hundred miles over a good 
country. 

The size, strength, and speed of the elk ought to fit it 
for some useful domestic purpose. It could be trained to 
be a valuable beast of burden; and its speed is so great, 
and it has so much power of endurance, that it could be 
used either for drawing a carriage or to carry couriers 
who have to ride long distances at a rapid rate. By treat- 
ing it as geldings are, the pugnacity and ill-temper it dis- 



THE ELK, OR WAPITI. 21 5 

plays during the rutting season could be readily overcome, 
and it would be rendered as docile as a donkey. A friend 
of mine once owned a pair treated in this manner, and he 
found that very little training was required to fit them for 
drawing a carriage. When it came to road driving, he 
saw that no steeds he met could even keep in sight of his 
antlered Pegasuses for any length of time. Their long, 
trotting gait, which never seems to falter either in measure 
or speed, makes them the perfection of carriage roadsters ; 
but they have this one great drawback, that if they hear 
the cry of hounds they will bolt immediately, and probably 
leave carriage and driver behind them. The pair which I 
refer to were startled suddenly one day, while enjoying 
their exercise, by the baying of a pack of mongrels, and no 
sooner did they hear the cry than they jumped over a 
high bank — carriage, driver, and all — and landed in a deep 
pool in a river. Making for the land with all possible 
haste, they soon battered the vehicle into small pieces, 
while the unfortunate owner had some difficulty in reach- 
ing shore. By offering a large reward, he recovered his 
runaways the next day; and, being a man of determination 
as well as resources, he concluded to get rid of their pen- 
chant for bolting at once. With this purpose in view, he 
put them into a field having very high fences, and kept 
hounds yelling about it all day long. The elks were at 
first thoroughly scared ; but after running themselves near- 
ly to death, and finding no means of escape nor any result 
from their great alarm, they gradually became indifferent, 
and settled down to feeding. This experiment being re- 
peated a few times, their idle fears were allayed, and the 
owner suffered no more mishaps from their impetuosity. 
How far they could be made useful for carrying light cou- 
riers I cannot surmise, but the probability is that they 
would be found unequalled for such purposes in the wood- 
ed regions of the Far West. 

It does certainly seem a pity that this animal cannot be 
domesticated, and made into something more useful and 
permanent than a means of affording the pleasure of shoot- 



276 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

ing to a few sportsmen or hungry hunters, or enriching 
" skin-scalpers," whose sole idea of sport is to slaughter 
even the pregnant hinds for the sake of the pitiful sum 
they obtain for the hides. It is estimated that over ten 
thousand elks were slaughtered last year for their skins 
alone, and of these about four thousand were killed in 
Montana, principally in the Yellowstone region, where the 
animal is, or rather was, exceedingly numerous. 

A skin realizes from two dollars and a half to four dol- 
lars, according to the character of the coating ; and for 
this pittance many men devote themselves to destroying 
indiscriminately the most stately animal in the country; 
yet nothing is done to them, owing to the indifference of 
the legislators to framing a law that would punish such 
Vandals. At the present rate of destruction, the wapiti 
will not be known in Montana, Colorado, and Wyoming in 
a short time, and persons must hie to the dense forests of 
portions of Idaho, Oregon,Washington Territory, and other 
distant regions to enjoy a legitimate hunt after it. 

I have said that the animals were more numerous in the 
two latter countries than in any other portion of the con- 
tinent ; and this I believe to be a positive fact, for I have 
seen them, during the autumnal migrations when they were 
fleeing from the icy breezes of the mountains to the warmth 
and shelter of the coast, pass a run-way in herds nearly all 
day long; and had I remained I might, perhaps, have seen 
the same sight for a week. They moved in long columns 
and in single file, and each column was led by a sturdy stag 
or a matronly hind, but the rear was always occupied by 
old males. When startled, they would move at a tremen- 
dous rate through the thick woods and matted undergrowth, 
but they seemed to have no special leaders; for in some 
cases a young stag, and in others an old hind, headed the 
fugitives, the young being in the centre. The cause of 
this lack of a regular commander in a stampede would 
seem to be that the males are often too heavy to lead the 
van, and that, as with the buffalo, the lighter-footed females 
are compelled to do it on account of their superior activity. 



THE ELK, OR WAPITI. 277 

To hunt them successfully in the forest, I have found a 
hreech-loading shot-gun, well charged with buckshot, the 
best weapon, but, for open shooting, I prefer a fifty-calibre 
double Express that is accurate up to three hundred yards ; 
and for running them down on horseback, few weapons are 
more convenient than a heavy self-cocking revolver, that 
carries a bone-smashing bullet and a large charge of pow- 
der, so that one shot at close range may be able to disable 
or kill a fugitive. A good breech-loading rifle, provided 
one has a trained horse, is preferable to a revolver, how- 
ever, owing to its longer range, greater accuracy, and more 
destructive power. 

Dr. Carver, the celebrated rifleman, who has performed 
the unparalleled feat of killing thirty- three elks in one 
straight run, and two hundred and thirty in two weeks by 
running and stalking, considers that any rifle less than fifty 
calibre is rather light for hunting such heavy game, unless 
it carries a large charge of powder and a long bullet ; and 
he deems a revolver to be of comparatively little use for 
general work, owing to its want of accuracy, and its dan- 
gerous character in the hands of novices. I have seen 
some splendid work done with it, however, by troopers, 
officers, regular hunters, and even novices, especially when 
they had inexperienced horses that would not follow an elk 
without the use of the reins. 

If a man has a trained steed that will chase an elk or a 
herd without any guidance from the hand, a rifle is by far 
the best weapon. This should be lifted promptly to the 
shoulder, and fired the moment it covers the object; for 
any attempt to take deliberate aim when a horse is at full 
speed is an impossibility, as the gun falls up and down 
with the strides. A slight glance along the barrel is gen- 
erally sufficient, and a person will find, after a little expe- 
rience, that he can shoot as well that way as if he rested 
half a minute on the sight. 

The most effective and the surest shot is made quarter- 
ing, so that the bullet may pass through the ribs and lungs, 
and possibly break the fore-shoulder. Another good one 



278 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAB WEST. 

is to strike the animal in the back, so that the spinal col- 
umn may be broken. This is not so easily made as the 
previous one, however, as the target is not so large. A 
capital weapon for general shooting on horseback is the 
latest model of the Winchester or Sharp rifle, the former 
being especially convenient, owing to its magazine, and the 
rapidity with which it can be fired. Few sights are more 
stirring than to behold a herd of elks, numbering from five 
hundred to a thousand, with their branching antlers, look- 
ing like a brush-thicket at a distance, and their graceful 
forms, scouring over the plains in wild confusion. When 
startled, they bound away in a body, and keep so close that 
they soon become enveloped in clouds of dust, through 
which is heard the clashing of antlers, and the heavy, meas- 
ured tread of many hoofs. When hard pressed, they break 
up into small groups and run in every direction; and to 
prevent this, persons ought to keep about twenty or thirty 
feet behind them, and rake them from the flanks. To get 
within this distance and stay there for any length of time, 
fast and vigorous horses are required ; for an elk can out- 
run any ordinary horse if the ground is at all rough, and 
can keep up its pace for a distance of seventy miles or 
more with apparent ease. It is no unusual incident, there- 
fore, for a spirited steed to fall dead after a long chase; 
and to be knocked up for life is quite a common occur- 
rence. 

If the animals are driven toward a canyon, a pei\son may 
tumble over half a dozen as they emerge on the opposite 
side ; but the most effective means of making a large bag 
is to bound suddenly into the midst of a herd and open a 
rapid fire at once. This demoralizes them so much that 
they jump wildly about or stare stupidly at their foe, yet 
do not attempt to flee ; but when once they get it into 
their heads that something is wrong, they wheel about, and 
soon disappear in the horizon. This interval is sufficient, 
however, to enable a good shot to kill from four to a dozen 
of them, and, if he is well mounted, he may claim as many 
more in a run of seven or eisrht miles. This chase is most 



TEE ELK, OB WAPITI. 279 

exciting; and he who has once taken part in it will say 
that few sports can equal it, as it brings into action both 
equestrian power and surety of aim. Having stalked the 
animal, pursued it with hounds, and run it down on horse- 
back, I prefer the latter to any other method of hunting it, 
as it gives both the hunter and the hunted an opportunity 
of displaying their best qualities. 

The most stirring gallop that I have had after it was in 
the "Wind River country in Wyoming. There were at the 
time to which I refer no settlers in the region where the 
chase came off, and I doubt if there are any now, as it was 
occupied three or four years ago only by wild animals and 
wilder Indians. I entered it with a party of miners who 
were going there on a " prospecting " expedition, it being 
reported that some of the hills there contained large de- 
posits of gold and silver, and several small lakes of soda, 
besides other valuable mineral treasures. The leader of 
our party was a veteran scout and Indian fighter who had 
lived in the country for many years, and when he was the 
only white man to be found there, if I except an occasional 
visit from a few trappers employed by the fur companies. 
He had had so many contests with the Indians that he was 
known by name or person to every tribe in the Territory, 
and great was his fame among them; so great, in fact, that 
few of them would care to meet him in combat, or attack 
any bodies of men led by him, whether they were soldiers 
or civilians. He had also some influence with them on ac- 
count of his being married to two squaws, and this induced 
us to hope that they would not molest us. In order to be 
prepared for all contingencies, however, we armed ourselves 
with the best bowie-knives, rifles, and revolvers we could 
procure ; and being provided with two good American 
horses each, and a small pack train of mules to carry our 
baggage, we started from the Laramie Plains for the un- 
known Eldorado, about one hundred and thirty miles dis- 
tant, just as the sun was about setting. We chose this 
time so as to prevent persons from knowing where we 
were going, and also to get well on our way before any 



280 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

prowling Indians could guess at our destination and lay a 
trap for us ; for few red men can withstand the tempta- 
tion of lifting a lot of fine horses and some attractive scalps 
at the same time. We marched principally at night, and 
rested during the day, generally in a chasm or piece of 
woods where we could find shelter and concealment, for we 
did not want to run any risks. We were even careful not 
to build any fires, except what was sufficient to boil some 
tea or coffee and broil a piece of bacon, as we feared the 
smoke would betray our presence. 

After inarching for five nights over treeless plains and 
pine-clad mountains, we reached our destination, and pitch- 
ed our camp on the top of a wooded hill that both conceal- 
ed us and gave us a commanding view of the surrounding 
country. The day after our arrival it was resolved to lay 
in a stock of fresh meat, as we had none, and we desired to 
provision the camp, so that all our time could be devoted 
to the object of the expedition. This did not seem to be a 
very difficult matter, for the tracks of deer were numerous 
everywhere, and the woods fairly swarmed with hares and 
several species of grouse. The latter were not deemed 
worthy of the powder to be wasted upon them, however, 
so we made preparations for an onslaught on the large 
game. Having saddled our horses and armed ourselves in 
the most careful manner, we sallied from our forest home 
and marched toward an extensive valley to our right, which 
was hemmed in on all sides by high, wooded mountains, 
and contained several coppices of cotton-woods, alders, and 
willows, which skirted the borders of streams. It was cov- 
ered with a luxuriant growth of herbage and wild flowers, 
and looked as beautiful in the morning sun as any spot 
could possibly be. It was the ideal of repose ; yet its sur- 
roundings were full of activity and motion, and gentle pict- 
uresqueness was contrasted with sublime grandeur. 

Always careful and cautious, the scout, who had gained 
his experience by many a hard and dangerous lesson, would 
allow no one to enter it until he had carefully reconnoitred 
it from two or three directions, for fear any Indians might 



THE ELK, OR WAPITI. 281 

be lurking there. While he and two others were out scout- 
ing, I surveyed the valley with a field -glass from a com- 
manding eminence, and saw that large throngs of antelopes 
and numerous herds of elks and deer were grazing over it, 
or playfully running about. When the leader returned, he 
stated that he could find no indications anywhere of the 
presence of the red men, and that it would therefore be 
safe to enter the place. As we wished to get as much 
meat as we could in as short time as possible, we concluded 
to run the elks, as they would afford us the best sport and 
meat, and our chances of success were greater with them 
than if we went after the smaller deer or the prong-horns. 

Moving forward slowly, we were soon to the leeward of 
two herds of elks which were grazing on the outskirts of a 
coppice, and, when we got near enough to them to under- 
take a dash with some assurances of success, we charged 
them boldly. That seemed to be the first time they had 
any suspicion of our dangerous character ; but, when once 
assured of it, they broke away singly or in groups, and 
headed directly up wind and across the valley. Each man 
singled out his quarry, and in a short time the hills and 
mountains were echoing with the reports of rifles and re- 
volvers. I selected a burly stag that had magnificent ant- 
lers, and in a run of less than half a mile was near enough 
to cause him to break his trot, and fall into a fast, ungainly 
gallop. Knowing that he could not keep that pace very 
long, I urged my horse forward at his best speed, and kept 
him at it until the quarry resumed the long and rapid trot 
for which its family is noted. The ground being good, I 
had every advantage over the fugitive, as my horse was 
both fast and enduring. After a run of two miles or more, 
I drew along-side his flank, and, placing my revolver close 
enough to his back to burn the hair, I fired, and broke his 
spinal column. He fell headlong on his antlers, but, before 
he reached the ground, I got in another shot in the head, 
and he tumbled over dead. As he lay outstretched before 
me, I fairly gloated over him, for he was one of the largest 
and handsomest sta^s I ever saw. On looking around for 



282 SPORTING AD VENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

my companions, I saw several of them pursuing the animals 
in every direction, while others were dismounted, having 
evidently been successful in the run. Having marked the 
position of my victim, I was returning to join a group of 
two or three of my comrades, when I met a hind and her 
fawn coming toward me in the most unsuspicious manner. 
I dashed at them, but, instead of running up wind, they cut 
across it, and headed for a coppice of cotton-woods three 
or four miles distant. I pursued them at a rattling pace; 
but, my horse being quite pumped, I could not get them 
to break their trot, so the chase continued for a couple of 
miles, when the hind fell forward suddenly on her head as 
if shot ; but before I could overtake her she was off again. 
I noticed in a short time that she was running in a pecul- 
iar manner, as if one of her legs were injured, yet I could 
not close the distance between us. After awhile she show- 
ed signs of faltering; her pace was becoming unsteady; 
and the fawn which had kept by her side all the way shot 
ahead of her. Feeling assured that she was injured, I did t 
not press my horse very hard, as I was hoarding his strength 
for a final dash. As every step she took seemed to weaken 
her more, I finally made a spurt, and was beside her in less 
than ten minutes, and, putting my revolver to her head, I 
shot her dead. The fawn broke away in an opposite direc- 
tion, on seeing me close on it, and by this means escaped. 
On looking at the hind, I saw that one of her forelegs was 
broken near the fetlock, the result of stepping into a prai- 
rie-dog hole, yet she must have run at least two or three 
miles more after that accident. 

Having extracted the viscera, I marked her position, and 
started back to where two men were left with our extra 
horses, as the animal I rode w r as quite done up, and covei'ed 
with foam. While returning, I noticed that the elks and 
antelopes which we had driven toward the mountains were 
scurrying back, as if they were being pursued ; and this 
caused me to halt and closely scan the landscape. I fortu- 
nately carried my field-glass slung over my shoulder, and, 
taking it out, I made a survey of all that portion of the val- 



THE ELK, OH WAPITI. 283 

ley which the animals were leaving. After a careful scru- 
tiny, I could see a column of mounted men moving along 
the edge of a heavy copse; and when it passed the wood, 
it seemed to open out like a telescope, and dark dots could 
be seen moving rapidly to the right and left and sud- 

Wdenly disappearing, as if the ground had swallowed them. 

m " Indians, by Jove!" thought I; so I hastened at once to 
find our veteran commander, to see what could be done to 
escape the serious danger that threatened us. After going 
at full gallop for about a mile, I was startled by hearing 

1 niy name called out of a tree, and, on looking up, saw the 
leader perched on the branches of a fir, and his horse tied 
to its base. Reining up abruptly, I was going to tell him 
what I had seen ; but he anticipated me by coolly remark- 
ing, " Seen 'em, didn't you ? I knowed it as soon as I saw 
you stoppin' ; but I saw 'em long afore you did. That aire 
machine o' yourn isn't as good as my eyes, after all. I 
reckon I can tell an Injun as far off as any telescope." This 
statement, which was yelled at me as if the whole thing w r as 
a joke, was followed by the rapid descent of the speaker; 
but on reaching the ground he changed his tone of voice, 
and said that we were in for another sort of hunt, and 
that he feared we should have to play the part of the elk. 
"There's more'n a hundred Injuns in that crowd near the 
mountains," said he, " and there's more'n fifty in the woods 
toward which you were running after that last elk ; so we've 
got one hundred and fifty against twelve. Mighty lively 
times we'll have of it afore long, I tell you ; and if any of 
us can scratch our head to-night we'll be mighty lucky, you 
bet your boots." 

Asking him what he thought ought to be done, he re- 
plied that there was nothing to be done just then except to 
collect our forces, mount fresh horses, and fight for a pas- 
sage through the mountains in front. To attempt to reach 
camp, which was left in charge of two men, he considered 
to be a piece of folly, inasmuch as the Indians must have 
seen whence we emerged into the valley, and made their 
preparations to check us in that direction; for the first 



284 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

principle with a warrior is, that a white man retreats on 
the same line that he advanced ; so his first move is to 
block that route, and depend on a surround, and the de- 
moralizing effect of yells and charges, to win a victory. 
Most of our men had little fear of our foes in anything like 
equal numbers, for they were used to a rough-and-ready 
life among a fighting people with whom a word too often 
meant death. 

While we were conversing together, another member of 
the expedition rode up; and he being made acquainted 
with the condition of affairs, we resolved to summon our 
party together at once, and fight the Indians in the copse, 
and, if we defeated them, to dash for the mountains and 
reach the settlements if possible. The Indians felt so sure :• 
of us that they were in no hurry to open the battle ; and 
we wished them to infer that their presence was not 
known, for fear of forcing the issue before we were ready. 
We decided, accordingly, that we should chase an antelope 
in the direction where our spare horses were held, and 
there hold a council of war. Acting on this idea, we tore 
away from the copse at our best pace ; and meeting hun- 
dreds, I might say thousands, of antelopes on our way, we 
pretended to pursue them, but we took excellent care that 
those we followed went in the direction we wished to go. 
A run of two miles brought us to where our extra horses 
were held ; and pretending that we had done something 
extraordinary, which pretension we made manifest by firing 
our rifles and revolvers, we shouted in our most stentorian 
tones " hoo-oo-hoo-oo-oo-ah-oo-ah," as if we were overjoyed 
at an unusual piece of success. 

I was sent out on the plain to fire my revolver in rapid 
succession, in order to attract the attention of the l'emain- 
der of our company, while our veteran leader rode in an- 
other direction to watch the manoeuvres of the Indians. 
Our signal was successful, and in less than ten minutes the 
whole of our party was assembled. I had, in the mean 
time, saddled a fresh and my best horse, and felt so thor- 
oughly confident of outrunning any Indian that I was al- 



THE ELK, OR WAPITI. 285 

most anxious to race with any one of them. When the 
position of affairs was explained to the men, they were all 
animation at once; and though the news was exceedingly 
disagreeable, not one showed the least sign of feai*. All 
displayed in their features the seriousness of the coming 
contest; but though their faces might have been a little 
blanched, yet there was an expression of a thorough deter- 
mination to fight to death if necessary. 

Some — and myself among them — put a revolver into 
their boot-legs, intending to kill themselves with it if they 
were captured, or so seriously wounded as to be unable to 
keep with the remainder of the party. After a brief con- 
sultation, our plan of operations was decided upon. This 
was, that it would be worse than madness to retreat to 
camp ; and, having no other recourse left, we concluded to 
make for the only passage in the mountains in front, and 
resort to every stratagem we could think of to lead the 
foe away from that. All were to obey the leader's motions, 
or take the consequence ; and no person was to leave a 
wounded comrade until it was evident that he could not 
escape the red demons, and he was then to be shot in case 
he could not do it himself. That matter being understood, 
all mounted fresh horses ; and deploying into a long line, 
so as to prevent the effect of a fusillade, we moved forward 
as if we were going on a grand drive. The Indians in the 
coppice in front, on seeing us advancing, sallied out prompt- 
ly to meet us, and we, feigning to be surprised, faced about 
at the command of our leader and retreated in the direc- 
tion whence we came. They dashed after us at once ; and 
when they got within rifle range we let them have a volley, 
which tumbled over some men and horses. Our fire was 
answered by a fierce yell of defiance and a fusillade that 
looked dangerous enough, but all the bullets fell short. 
After a halt of five minutes, we galloped in an oblique di- 
rection to the right, in order to lead them away from the 
route we intended to take ; and this ruse was successful ; 
for, instead of closing on us, the larger number rode as 
rapidly as they could to head us off from camp, while the 



286 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAB WEST. 

others spread out so as to completely surround us. A ride 
of a mile or two showed us that we had drawn nearly all 
the screaming braves from the rear, and that we might 
therefore be able to break through the thin line that cov- 
ered the mountain pass we were anxious to reach. We 
decided, accordingly, to face about, and put our horses to i 
their best pace, and make it a veritable race for life ; but, : 
before we could act on this idea, a line of mounted war- 
riors rose out of the ground about five hundred yards 
ahead, and gave us a rattling but harmless volley. We-' 
returned the fire hotly for a few moments, and saw several 
men fall. Not caring to do more to them than show that 
they could not attack us with impunity, we wheeled about 
suddenly, and, moving obliquely to the left, where our foes , 
were least numerous, we gave our horses a free though 
firm rein, and sped over the ground at a pace that was 
soon carrying us away from the fire of the main column. 
It was not until we dispersed the Indians in front that the - 
others had any idea of what we were about ; but, on di- 
vining our purpose, their yells of defiance turned into yells 
of rage, and they commenced firing aimlessly, and trying 
to surround us ; but this they found a difficult matter, as 
they were too widely scattered. The race continued at a 
slashing rate for five or six miles, without any injury to us, 
when Ave suddenly met another group of warriors, and a 
fight then commenced that lasted for three miles. We did 
not waste a moment in halts to take aim ; we merely placed 
the rifle to the shoulder and banged away. 

To shoot at distant objects with any degree of accuracy 
when a horse is at a full gallop is an impossibility; hence 
we did not expect to do much harm. We did, neverthe- 
less, have the satisfaction occasionally of seeing a warrior 
fall, but he would scarcely touch the ground before two 
of his comrades would run on each side of him and lift 
him on his horse, or drag him out of the range of our fire. 

As we approached the pass in the mountains, the In- 
dians redoubled their efforts to head us off; but we had 
the inner line, and intended to keep it. Seeing that they 



THE ELK, OR WAPITI. 287 

could not check us in that direction, they opened on us 
from every quarter, and bullets went whizzing or droning 
past us, while the fierce screams of the prairie braves were 
fairly demoniacal in their intensity. Had they been less 
careful of their persons they could have annihilated us in 
a few moments, but, Indian- like, they wished to. destroy 
us without any injury to themselves; hence they kept 
beyond the range of our rifles except for a few minutes 
at a time, when they tried their useless system of charg- 
ing. The stirring combat was kept up uninterruptedly, 
however, until we saw the gap that yawned in the moun- 
tain and offered us our only refuge. This caused a thrill 
of joy to pass through both body and mind, and we, for 
the first time, answered the screams of our foes by hearty 
shouts. A few of the more daring and best mounted 
warriors made a bold and determined attempt to charge 
us, but they were glad to relinquish that system of fight- 
ing in a very short time. A little later, and we were 
dashing into the rocky pass or chasm, and, once inside, we 
halted, and climbing promptly to an eminence, gave our 
pursuers as defiant a shout as ever issued from human 
throats. We were horror-struck, however, to see a group 
of the fiends dancing and yelling about some object; and 
on inquiring if any of the party were missing, found that a 
man named Evans was not seen after the head of our col- 
umn entered the pass, he being the last in the line. This 
loss affected us very much, and we were almost enraged 
when we saw the way in which he was being tortured ; for 
the cowards were evidently wreaking their revenge and 
losses on him. Much as we felt inclined to save him or 
his remains from the mutilating hands of his captors, we 
felt that we were powerless to do so, and that we might be 
risking our own lives to no purpose. The Indians did not, 
of course, dare to follow us into the pass, so we pursued 
our journey unmolested. We subsequently learned from 
friendly Indians that our foes were some of Red Cloud's 
renegade band, and that we had killed and wounded fifteen 
of them. They captured our camp, however, but the men 



288 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

in charge escaped by leaving it where it stood, and fleeing 
toward the settlements when they observed us retreating. 

After resting a short time in the chasm, we resumed our 
retrograde movement, and continued it for three nights, 
when we reached an army post, where we were kindly 
treated and hospitably entertained by the officers. We 
suffered a good deal from hunger and thirst during our 
retreat, as water was scarce, and the only food we had was 
the flesh of the sage hare and sage cock; and that, though 
tender, is anything but pleasing even to the palate of a hun- 
gry man, as it tastes as if it had been steeped in a decoc- 
tion of quinine, gall, and bitter -almonds. We were so 
thankful at escaping a terrible death, however, that we 
grumbled but little at our diet; yet we were very glad 
when we exchanged it for something more palatable. 

Several months after this affair I happened to be at the 
Sioux reservation, and there learned the full particulars of 
the horrible death of poor Evans. The murderers who had 
been out devastating the country during the spring and 
summer, and slaying men, women, and children in the most 
merciless manner, returned to the reservation to rest dur- 
ing the winter, and grow fat on the generous rations sup- 
plied them by the Government, in order that they might 
be in good condition to resume the slaughter of innocent 
whites the following spring. Having nothing to do except 
to eat, time became rather heavy on their hands, and, to es- 
cape this dulness, they instituted a round of their various 
dances, some of which were kept up for a fortnight at a 
time, night and day. I witnessed their hideous scalp- 
dance, in which the scalps were placed on long wands, 
which were held by women in the centre of a large circle, 
while the sanguinary braves yelled and jumped around 
them like so many lunatics, and each related in the most 
boasting manner imaginable how many scalps he had tak- 
en; how he secured them; and went through horrifying 
pantomimic gestures with hands and face and body to 
show how he acted in the terrible contest that had made 
him such a famous warrior, and furnished him with so 



THE ELK, OR WAPITI. 289 

many gory trophies. When one assassin finished relating 
his tale, all present uttered a guttural " wach " of approba- 
tion, as a certificate of his truthfulness ; and after some 
more stamping, yelling, and hideous grimaces, another leap- 
ed into the circle and told his exploits ; and so it was con- 
tinued until all had proclaimed their martial deeds, and ele- 
vated themselves into the greatest of heroes. I noticed 
that one scalp aroused two of them into the greatest state 
of frenzy, for they screamed and roared, barked, yelped, 
stamped with their feet, snapped their teeth, distorted then- 
facial muscles, and hissed as they pointed at it, and bran- 
dished their arms and weapons in the most frantic manner, 
to show how hard its owner had struggled to keep it on 
his head. When they had finished their wild harangue, an 
unusually loud and prolonged " wach " from all announced 
that it was a great feat indeed ; and, when the braves left 
the ring, an old chief told the audience how many men they 
had lost in trying to get that scalp. 

I did not understand a word of what they said, but I 
could readily comprehend their gestures, and deduced from 
them that one of the greatest deeds ever performed by the 
tribe was to secure that scalp. Turning to the French half- 
breed who was with me, I asked him to translate their 
speeches for me, and he said that the scalp was that of a 
white man which they had taken in the Wind River region 
a few months previously. The party of whites of which he 
was a member had killed or wounded fifteen of their men, 
and then escaped in the great chasm ; but that he, being 
the last in the line, had his horse shot under him, and he 
fell to the ground. He mounted another, however, in a 
moment ; but, before he could escape, one of the two braves 
stunned him with a shot in the head, and then pulled him 
off his horse, while the second shot him through the right 
arm with an arrow. On recovering consciousness, the 
white man drew his revolver, and shot three warriors as 
they were crowding around him ; but, before he could in- 
flict any further injury, he was seized by the two Terpsi- 
choreans, unarmed, bound, and tied to a tree, where he was 

13 



290 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

burned alive, after being terribly mutilated and having his 
body filled with arrows. He bore his fate with Indian 
stoicism ; and this and his bravery had induced his captors 
to consider him a great warrior, and his scalp to be there- 
fore unusually important. When I heard the tale, I felt 
as if I should like to see the whole murderous, boasting 
throng shot like dogs ; and so anxious was I that they 
should be punished, that I left the savage scene, with its 
ghastly accessories, and hastened at once, to the house of 
the agent or sub-agent, and told him of the incident, and 
asked him to see that the murderers were punished. 

He, however, treated the matter rather indifferently, say- 
ing that it would be difficult to bring those engaged in the 
brutal deed to justice, as none of their own people would 
testify against them, and a scalp could not be identified or 
produced in evidence to prove their guilt. When I told 
him that those present had told the tale themselves, he said 
that was nothing, as they would deny it all in a body if 
questioned about it; and he thought it was better to let 
the matter rest, as the dead could not be called to life, and 
any attempt at punishing his murderers would only create 
a useless disturbance, and probably send a portion of the 
tribe on the war-path. 

Seeing that nothing could be done, I relinquished my ef- 
forts at having them punished, and the next week I went to 
see another dance of the braves. This was like the preced- 
ing, except that the scalps were not held up by the women; 
but I noticed that several were employed to fringe the gar- 
ments of the warriors, and that they pointed to their dress 
instead of to wands when they were relating their great 
deeds and the number of scalps they had taken. I tried 
to buy some of these garments, but found they were deem- 
ed invaluable, and that neither money nor ammunition 
could induce their owners to part with them. I have 
been in that country since I was so unceremoniously hunt- 
ed out of it, but I never think of it without recalling the 
horrible fate of Evans, and feeling thankful for my own 
escape from an ignominious death. 



THE ELK, OR WAPITI. 291 

The abundance of the elk in some of the unpopulated 
regions beyond the Rocky Mountains is almost incredible. 
I have seen in a valley in Colorado, near the TJte reserva- 
tion, at least four thousand in one herd, and I have fre- 
quently seen them in throngs numbering from fifty to five 
hundred in various sections extending from Oregon to 
British America. I once formed one of a party in Colo- 
rado who were exploring a region that contained few set- 
tlers, and they were often far apart; hence game was as 
plentiful as if the entire country were a park, and was as 
closely preserved as a Scotch deer forest. Elks, deer, and 
antelopes were scattered over the plain as far as the eye 
could see, and they were so unused to the presence of man 
that they seldom fled before us when we approached them 
from the leeward until we were quite close to them. Dur- 
ing the two months that we spent there, we captured about 
sixty elks by running them down with horses ; and we 
could have slain five times the number, I believe, if we 
cared to do so, or preferred wanton slaughter to sport. 
We also lassoed some calves, but the greater number were 
let loose after we picked out the best for the larder. Las- 
soing them is a very interesting amusement, especially if 
a person is well mounted, as they run well, and twist and 
turn rapidly when being overhauled ; and a young buck 
will sometimes, especially if much blown, charge the horse, 
and try to pierce him with his tiny antlers. Visions of 
those scenes arouse the most buoyant feelings of one's nat- 
ure, but with them comes the sad thought that in a few 
years one of the finest game animals on the continent will 
have disappeared before the advance of civilization, and 
the knife and rifle of the skin-hunter. 



292 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE MULE DEER. 

The Mule Deer. — Its Haunts and Habits. — General Characteristics. — Ori- 
gin of Name. — Weight, Size, and Appearance. — Why it is called the 
Jumping Deer. — Fire -hunting. — Herding of Bucks. — Hunting with 
Hounds. — Stalking. — Migrations of the Animal. — Large Numbers kill- . 
ed by Hunters. — A Hunt in the Bitter Root Mountains. — Wailing of 
Squaws. — A Visit to an Indian Cemetery. — Disappearance of the I 
Mourners. — A Retreat. — Wolves. — Sit up all Night. — Fear of Indians. . 
— A Visit from them in the Morning. — Our Preparations for their Re- 
ception.— Mutual Recognition. — The Trapper's Story. — Visit the In- 
dian Camp. — The Pipe of Peace. — Speeches. — A Buffalo Dance. — Revis- 
it the Burial-ground. — Mode of Burying the Dead. — Mourning Songs 
of Squaws. — Change Camp. — Number of Deer captured, and how we 
Bagged them. — Wolves attacking a Stag. — Death of Five of them. — 
Change Quarters. — Hunting Does and Fawns. — Why these keep to the \ 
Foot-hills. — Our Success with them. — Another Visit to the Indian 
Camp. — An Aged Couple deserted. — How Indians treat Old People.— 
Their Fate. 

The mule deer (Cariacus macrotis : Gray) is a denizen 
of the vast area lying between the bad lands of Dakota 
and Nebraska, and the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges. 
It is virtually the deer of the mountains and plateaux, as 
its congeners are of the forest and lowlands; for it is sel- 
dom found on the plains, unless they are closely surround- 
ed by rugged hills or steep mountains, and even then only 
rarely; for the lowest points to which it seems to descend 
voluntarily are the foot-hills that jut out from the main 
ranges. Its favorite haunts are near the summits of moun- 
tains having an altitude of from one to five thousand feet; 
and there, free from many foes, it leads a life of compara- 
tive ease and security. It always seeks shelter in the tim- 
ber during the day ; but in the morning and evening it fre- 
quents the more open grounds near the mountain crests to 
graze on the tender and dainty grass that is nurtured dur- 



THE MULE DEER. 



293 



ing the spring and summer by the melting snow on the 
higher pinnacles. In these retreats, notwithstanding the 
fact that wolves and cougars are comparatively scarce, it 
exercises the most scrutinizing vigilance, and the hunter 
that would approach it undetected must have the caution, 
cunning, and patience of an Indian. Like all mountain an- 




TIIE AMERICAN DEEE. 



imals, it is very keen of scent, and easily alarmed; yet 
when it is not hunted much, and persons approach it from 
the leeward at a snail's pace and halt frequently, they may 
get a shot at it; for, like all its family, its vision seems to 
be so defective that it is able to distinguish objects only 



294 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

when they are in motion. Those who would be successful 
in stalking it should, therefore, move slowly, tread lightly, 
and use their eyes instead of their feet. The great point is 
to see the quarry before it sees you; and as its coating 
closely resembles the grass and leaves, and it is generally 
concealed in dense shrubbery during the day, the only way 
in which this can be done is to peer sharply in every direc- 
tion, and let the gaze rest steadily for a few moments on 
spots where it is supposed to lurk. One should work to 
the windward under all circumstances; for the keen nos- 
trils of a deer will detect the presence of a hunter several 
hundred yards away, and it would be off in the most noise- 
less manner before he even knew that it was about. Its 
hearing being also excellent, the breaking of a branch, the 
rustle of the shrubbery, or the crackling of a rotten bough 
underfoot, would send it scampering away in a hurry; 
hence the general advice may be summarized in a sentence: 
keep your eyes open, walk very slowly and lightly, and work 
to windward. If a deer passes a person's front while he is 
out stalking, he may cause it to halt long enough to get a 
shot by giving a sharp whistle or call, as its curiosity is so 
strong that it wants to know the meaning of every unusual 
sound and the character of every strange object, even when 
the hounds are in full pursuit. I have shot several that 
would have dashed past me in full flight but for this ruse, 
and I remember few cases in which I failed to cause a halt 
by its means. The stop might be only for a second or two, 
yet it was long enough to give a good opportunity for fir- 
ing. Cautious as the mule deer is, it will halt on hearing 
the signal, even in the open, and with the hunter in plain 
view; for if it is one of the most vigilant, it is also one of 
the most inquisitive of its family. 

This fine animal, which seems to be the connecting link 
between the wapiti and the smaller deer, derives its name 
from the length of its ears and the form of its tail. The 
former, which are eight or nine inches long, are well bent 
forward, and are constantly in motion, as if trying to catch 
every sound; and the latter, which is about the same length, 



THE MULE BEER. 295 

is rendered conspicuously prominent by the fact that it is 
thin and rat-like, bare of all hair beneath, but well covered 
with white hair above, while the outer tip is decorated with 
a tuft of black hairs two or three inches long. This deer 
attains a height of from three and a half to four feet, and 
weighs from one hundred and eighty to about three hun- 
dred pounds. The body is round, and generally full in 
outline, and the legs are so long, slender, and graceful that 
they seem scarcely strong enough to carry the heavy body 
which they support; and one would certainly never give 
them credit for the power they display in making the stu- 
pendous bounds which have made the animal famous as 
the "jumping deer." I have seen it leap over matted trees 
and branches which must have been all of twelve or four- 
teen feet in height; and on one occasion it bounded over 
a fallen monarch of the forest, a gigantic pine, which we 
found by measurement to have a circumference of twenty- 
four feet at the base, and to be elevated four or five feet 
from the ground, by the quantity of soil attached to its 
roots. Its ability to leap is a favorite theme with old 
hunters, and some of the tales told by them approach close- 
ly on the marvellous. 

Another distinguishing feature in its appearance is the 
magnificent antlers the stag bears. The lower beams in 
these are well set back, and the prongs jut straight up- 
ward. The number of points frequently amounts to fif- 
teen or sixteen, but the usual number in an adult is ten ; 
and if it exceeds this, they appear clumsy, and are irregu- 
lar in position. When seen from a front view, they look 
very striking and stately, and cause a person to sigh for 
them and their owner. During the rutting season, which 
commences about the last of October or the first of No- 
vember, they are used to good advantage in the combats 
between erotic males, and they sometimes become so en- 
tangled that they cannot be separated, and both animals, 
as a consequence, die of hunger. 

The sirens whose voices lead the gallants to destruction 
bring forth their young in June. These number one or 



•JUG SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

two at a birth ; and while they are in their infancy the 
mother keeps them concealed in the most inaccessible 
thickets, in order to protect them from hungry foes. She 
remains with them until the commencement of the next 
rutting season, then leaves them to shift for themselves, 
while she goes careering and whistling through the woods 
in search of lovers. The cry of the females and the defi- 
ant snorts of the males may then be heard in the usually 
silent forest; and these sounds give it an air of life and 
animation most pleasing to the lurking hunter. Should 
he then be engaged in "fire-hunting" during the night, 
he may feel assured of bagging many a stately stag and 
graceful doe, as their whistling makes their position known; 
and they are attracted so much by the blazing torches or 
gleaming jack-lamp that they may be approached from the 
leeward to within a few feet, and killed as easily as cows 
in a farm-yard. Aim is always taken between the large, 
soft, and glistening eyes; and as the bullet goes crashing 
into the brain, death is the immediate result. 

The nmle deer is seldom, so far as I could learn, hunted 
with hounds in the Far West, owing to the rugged char- 
acter of its haunts, and its habit of dashing for the moun- 
tain peaks and concealing itself, if possible, in rocky ravines 
or steep precipices. It always selects the most stony and 
difficult ground it can find, and where the scent cannot lie 
well ; hence it escapes in the majority of cases. When the 
bucks isolate themselves to grow their horns, they assem- 
ble in small groups occasionally, and frequently use the 
same bed several nights in succession, especially if they are 
not hunted much. Thinking I could avail myself of this 
characteristic to bag some, I tried to run them with hounds 
on one occasion, but soon found I could do nothing, as they 
separated at the first signal of the dogs, and ran in differ- 
ent directions toward the summit. Presuming some would 
return on what I supposed to be a regular run-way, I post- 
ed myself there, but I waited in vain, for none came near 
me; as they kept a straight course, and led the pursuers 
a merry race among rocky pinnacles, where the line was 



THE MULE DEER. 297 

soon lost. I heard the hounds giving tongue at intervals 
among the peaks ; but as they seemed to remain in one 
spot, I sounded the recall, and they came back with an evi- 
dent air of being nicely outwitted that time. 

Thinking I might be able to capture one after all, I made 
a cast on a new line ; but before the dogs had run what I 
should imagine to be a mile, they became silent. I follow- 
ed their tracks as well as I could for three or four miles, 
and found them pottering about in the most indecisive 
manner amidst ledges of trap-rock and a grassless soil that 
would scarcely retain the odor of a polecat. I then learn- 
ed that their apparent proximity was due to the resonant 
echoes of the mountain and forest, and that I had had a 
hard tramp for nothing. On looking for the slot or seal of 
the deer they had been pursuing, I saw that it led into a 
ravine, and, on entering this, I detected the wily character 
of the animal immediately; for when it entered the rivulet 
it did not emerge on the other side, but waded downward 
with the current. Not caring to go on a wild-goose chase, 
I retraced my footsteps, and went back to town without 
a trophy. That was my first and last attempt at hunting 
the macrotian creature with hounds; though I would not 
presume to infer from this failure that it cannot be pur- 
sued to good advantage with dogs in a less difficult region 
than the one I was in. 

The best time for hunting it is when the early snows of 
winter force it to descend to the foot-hills in order to se- 
cure food and shelter. One may stalk it then rather easily, 
if it has not been hunted much, as it seems loath to leave its 
coverts, and is not so liable to head for the steep summits 
on the first alarm. If one can secure a good position in a 
frequented run-way during this annual migration, he may 
reap a large deer harvest, for the animals come trooping 
down rapidly in single file, and seem more anxious to reach 
their destination than to avoid danger. If the hunter 
should have a rifle that carries a small charge of powder 
and a heavy ball, he is more likely to be successful than if 
he were armed with the usual hunting weapons ; as the 

13* 



298 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN. THE FAR WEST. 

report is not so great as that of the latter, nor are the 
woods so prompt in echoing it. It sounds more like the 
crash of a branch than an indication of danger; hence the 
deer are not so readily alarmed by it. I heard of a man 
who killed over a hundred on one stand in a mountain pass 
in Colorado : and he would have probably slain as many 
more had he not been injured seriously by the charge of a 
furious buck he had wounded, and disdained to avoid until 
it was too late to escape a thrust. 

It is nothing unusual for an experienced hunter to bag 
from two to five deer in a day, if they are at all numerous ; 
and I heard of a hunter who killed ten between sunrise and 
sunset; and I knew a French half-breed to claim the death 
of fifteen after an absence of fifty-six hours. 

The number killed in a week by those who supply the 
market, or hunt for others under contract, is almost incred- 
ible to persons whose greatest exploit has been to bag a 
stag in a week, perhaps, or who do not know how abundant 
deer are in portions of the West. Were they told that a 
man has killed two hundred and thirty wapitis, eighty deer, 
and several buffaloes in two weeks, they would be likely to 
consider the matter for awhile at least before giving it cre- 
dence; yet it has been done, I understand, by Dr. Carver; 
and I knew a stock-raiser who was said to have killed thir- 
ty mule deer from Monday to Saturday in Idaho County, 
Idaho Territory; but there the animals were numerous 
indeed, and, according to his statement, " were almost as 
thick as flies in June." This is one of the best game 
regions in the West, as nearly every large quadruped pe- 
culiar to the country may be found there. 

One of the most interesting week's sport that I had in 
the West was in that section of country. The party was 
limited to two, as our purpose was to devote our attention 
specially to the mule deer, which was said to be very abun- 
dant, and little hunted. My companion was a veteran Nim- 
rod who had, in former years, lived by trapping, but who, 
when the country began to get settled up, and gold and sil- 
ver were discovered there, turned miner, only to change af- 



THE MULE DEER. 299 

ter awhile to a stock-raiser and rancher. His career had 
been one of arduous toil and bold adventure, and he had 
had more than one contest with Indians and wild animals ; 
yet, notwithstanding his hard and unsympathetic life, his 
heart was as tender as a woman's, and he had a species of 
chivalry which, though rude, was founded on as high prin- 
ciples of honor as those which governed the conduct of the 
most famous knights of old. 

Bold and daring, and ready to meet any man with dead- 
ly weapons in a moment should he give him cause therefor, 
yet he would be the first to help him afterward if he were 
worthy of it. Strong in friendship, generous in character, 
tender and true, he was a fine type of those men who for- 
merly lived on the wild frontier, but who are now passing 
away, owing to the settling up of the country, and the ces- 
sation, comparatively speaking, of the fur trade in regions 
where no other business was once known. Hunter, trap- 
per, and Indian fighter, it could be well said of him, as it 
was of one of his prototypes : 

" And the happy, careless rover, 
Through the wilds he wandered over, 
Told his deeds by glade and cover 
All along the wild frontier. 
Oft the squirrel, listening near, 
When long-parted comrades greeted, 
Heard the wondrous tales repeated ; 
Heard that when the game was started, 
Sped their fortunes well or not, 
He was still the lightest-hearted, 
And the surest rifle-shot." 

Under his guidance I wended my way to the Bitter 
Root Mountains ; and as I have cause to long remember 
the scene of our hunt, I have entered into unusual details 
to show what manner of men are often met with in the 
West. 

We took with us a small tent, a generous supply of food 
and tobacco, a full equipment of arms, and a large mastiff 
to act as camp guard. Each rode a hardy mustang, and 
we had two mules which acted as pack animals. A march 



300 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

of twenty miles brought us to the hunting-ground late in 
the evening, and there we pitched our camp, near a rivulet, 
and in a dense thicket of firs, pines, and larches. 

When supper was finished, my companion fell to relating 
reminiscences of his life; and so interesting were they to 
me that it was past one o'clock before we retired to our 
humble couch on the ground. We had been asleep half an 
hour, perhaps, when I was awakened by the loud wailing 
of a woman ; and this sounded so strange in that M'ild re- 
gion that I jumped to my feet at once, and listened atten- 
tively for a few moments in order to find out the direction 
whence the crying emanated. I supposed at first that the 
moaning was that of somebody in distress ; but before I 
had decided what to do, my comrade, whom I supposed to 
be asleep, said, " That's nothing; only a squaw crying about 
some of her dead relations." 

" How came the squaw here ?" said I. 

" I don't know," was the laconic reply, " unless there's a 
camp somewhere near us." 

As I was rather anxious to know positively the cause of 
the wailing, he arose, and both of us having armed our- 
selves, we started in the direction whence we heard it, I 
for one feeling somewhat alarmed, as I feared something 
was amiss. A walk of five minutes in the dense forest, 
through which the moonbeams could scarcely penetrate, 
led us into a small glade in which several trees grew in a 
clump; and on reaching this place we halted, as the wail- 
ing seemed to issue from that thicket. 

As I could see no camp there, nor any signs of one, I 
was rather dubious about the correctness of my friend's 
surmises, and told him so ; but he cleared my doubts in a 
moment by saying that the coppice was a burial-ground 
of a band or tribe of Indians, who often camped there dur- 
ing the summer when they were out gathering roots and 
berries, or on the march for the buffalo-grounds of Mon- 
tana or British America. 

As the moon was then shining brightly, I expressed a 
strong desire to visit the cemetery to see what it looked 



THE MULE DEER. 301 

like. He objected at first, saying that Indians did not 
like to have white men intrude on such sacred ground ; 
yet when he saw how anxious I was about the matter, he 
complied with my wishes, and we entered the copse to- 
gether. We had scarcely done so, however, than the cry- 
ing ceased, and a moment later we saw a squaw gliding 
through the trees like a shadow, and before we could as- 
sure her of our friendly character, she disappeared as sud- 
denly as if the ground had swallowed her up. 

When he beheld this, he said, in the most laconic manner 
possible, " That means trouble for us, I fear." 

" Why ?" said I. 

"Because she'll tell her people, who can't be far off, that 
there are white strangers here; and as they are naturally 
of a suspicious disposition, they may think we have some 
designs against them ; and if they do not attack us, they 
may try to steal our animals." 

"What ought to be done, then?" said I. 

"Get out of here as quickly as possible," said he, "and 
go to camp and put out the fire, so that they cannot find us 
by its light. They won't attempt to harm us now, as they 
have a superstitious fear of making a night attack ; and 
if they try to hunt us up in the morning we know that they 
mean mischief, and we also know what we ought to do." 

This state of affairs was not pleasant to contemplate, 
and I chided myself for my stubborn curiosity; but when 
I saw that my companion displayed no change in his looks 
or demeanor, I felt reassured, and hoped I had not placed 
him in any serious predicament. 

On reaching camp, we found it surrounded with gray 
wolves ; but they were too cautious to make a raid on our 
edibles or animals, owing to their fear of the mastiff, which 
was tied near the tent, and barking loudly. The mules 
seemed to be in the greatest state of alarm, for they strain- 
ed at their pickets, and plunged and neighed with fright. 
Fearing that our steeds would break away, and that we 
might be left to the mercies of all foes if we did not drive 
off the wolves, we were compelled, much as we disliked to 



302 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

make any noise, to open fire on them; and after the sec- i 
ond volley from our shot-guns they disappeared in the 
gloom like magic, leaving three dead and two mortally 
wounded behind them. The latter two were finished with 
our hunting- knives ; and, throwing their carcasses on a 
tree, we put out the blazing fire by scattering it, and cov- 
ering it with wet leaves and branches. 

We then loaded our arms and waited patiently for day- 
light ; for it was our intention to be the first to make a 
movement if the Indians came to hunt us up, or make any 
hostile demonstration. 

We could not have slept, even if we desired to do so, as 
the wolves were howling fearfully all night long; and their 
cries, which sounded more weird and dismal than even 
those of the squaw, were kept up so uninterruptedly that 
they would seemingly awake the Seven Sleepers. 

About five o'clock the first streaks of dawn appeared, 
and, as soon as it was light enough to move about, we 
emerged from the tent, and, taking the dog with us, con- 
cealed ourselves in a dense thicket about two hundred 
yards away, so that we could watch the movements of the 
Indians should they approach the camp. We adopted this 
measure instead of retreating, for the reason that we did 
not know how they would treat us. If they intended to 
do us any injury, we surmised that they could readily over- 
take us ; if they did not, we thought it unnecessary to 
change our quarters until we desired to do so; neither did 
we wish to show them we feared them — a most danger- 
ous thing to do; but besides this was the fact that we 
knew we could escape from them more readily on foot than 
on horseback in that region of woods and chasms. 

In the course of half an hour we heard the mules kick- 
ing and plunging and neighing with fright, and guessed, 
from their actions, that our anticipated visitors were near 
the camp, for a mule can wind an Indian when no other 
quadruped would be aware of his presence ; and as it has 
the greatest fear of him, it is by far the best sentinel known 
to announce his cominsc. Peering from amidst our folia- 



THE MULE DEEM. 303 

ceous retreat, we saw ten armed braves boldly advancing 
toward our mustangs as if about to seize them. My com- 
panion, who was as cool in his demeanor as if he were in 
his own house, said he would be hanged if some of them 
would not pay dearly before he left them if they touched 
his animals. 

"We can wipe 'em out in two minutes with our Win- 
chesters," said he; "and if there are any more of 'em, we 
can mount and make a run for it, as I don't feel inclined to 
try my legs in running over these mountains from a pack 
of redskins ; but if there ain't any more, we have the field 
to ourselves." 

Before they reached the horses, however, another figure 
appeared on the scene, not twenty yards away from us. He 
was a stout, medium -sized man, about fifty years of age, 
and was dressed in a glaring scarlet blanket, leggings of 
the same material, and a hare -skin cap covered his head. 
He was evidently a personage of importance, for he walked 
with a certain air that indicated he was a chief, or at least 
a sub -chief. My companion, who was waiting for some 
overt act to be done before commencing the battle, scanned 
him closely, and, after a scrutiny of a few seconds, said, 
"Why, I know that old buck well; that's Bannock Jem; 
and I think he ought to know me. I've made a fool of 
myself this time, anyway. Let's get out of here at once; 
but we mustn't go the front way, as they might think we 
were afraid, and were hiding from them ; and we don't 
want any Injuns to think that." 

We therefore retreated for some distance, then struck to 
the right, and approached the camp in a roundabout way, 
to lead our visitors to infer that we had been out hunting, 
yet we took excellent care to have our rifles ready for in- 
stant use. When we reached our head-quarters, we saw 
some of the Indians unloosening our packs of provisions, 
and helping themselves to some of them ; but, on seeing 
us, they stopped their work immediately, and looked at 
us with an air in which there was not a little fear and 
suspicion. 



304 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

When my companion saw the chief, for such he proved 
to be, he advanced toward him, held out his hand, and said, 
"How!" and the salutation was promptly and, for an In- 
dian, earnestly returned. Both then conversed together for 
ten minutes or more in the Indian language, the remainder 
of the party being wondering spectators ; and when it was 
over, my comrade gave the chief some tobacco, buckshot, 
tea, coffee, and sugar. The others received a present of 
tobacco, but nothing else, as the donor said he had not 
food enough to last while we intended to be out. This 
seemed to satisfy them, for, on going away, all said 
" How !" to both of us, and a few moments later vanished 
in the forest. 

I asked my companion who the Indians were, and how 
he happened to know them so well; and he, in response, 
told me the following story : 

" 'Bout twenty years ago I was trapping in the Blackfeet 
country 'way north-east; and, as I wasn't doing much, I 
concluded to go into the buffalo country and try my hand 
a bit at shooting, in order to get food for the winter, and a 
few hides to provide myself with tobacco and powder and 
shot. While on my way there, I met the band of Injuns 
commanded by this Jem you've seen ; but he had some 
other name then which I don't now recollect. He isn't a 
real Bannock; and his band was then, and is now, made up 
of renegades from several tribes ; and they never count for 
much, as they won't stop on the reservation, and they ac- 
knowledge no law but their own. Well, when I struck 
their camp, I was so mighty hungry that I didn't care what 
I did, and I'd have fought the whole of the tribe for a piece 
of meat ; for I tell you a man doesn't care much for bullets 
when he is starving and food is near. So I entered their 
camp boldly. They were as surprised as Injuns can be 
when they saw me riding down between their tepees, but 
they made no effort to injure me, for Injuns always like 
sand in a man, even if he is their foe; and none of the 
Injuns were then overfond of the whites. 

" When I saw the chief's tent, which I knew by its size, 



THE MULE DEEH. 305 

I jumped off my mule and walked in. I found this Jem 
and his whole family — wives, children, and dogs — inside. 
The women, children, and dogs were all eating together, so 
I knew he had finished his grub ; for the braves never eat 
with the squaws and youngsters, and the only company 
these have are their flea-eaten curs. When they saw me 
they looked kind afraid, but they never said anything, nor 
did I ; and walking toward a big iron pot, which they must 
have stolen from the whites, I looked into it, and, finding it 
full of meat, helped myself to some; and after I had stuffed 
myself full — for every person can help himself in an Injun 
camp to any grub he sees there — I lit my pipe and offered 
a smoke to this ere Jem, who was lying down on a buffalo- 
hide near the fire ; and he took it mighty quick, I tell you, 
for I think he was out of tobacco. When he finished he 
gave it back ; and knowing by his looks that he wished he 
could have a few more puffs, I took out my pouch and gave 
him half I had, and he grabbed it as quickly as a starving 
man would a piece of venison. 

"Well, I stopped in camp that night, but not in any 
tepee, as I had plenty of blankets of my own ; so I slept 
under a tree. Next day I traded some powder and ball 
for a large chunk of elk, and slinging this on my saddle, I 
marched out of camp without saying a word to anybody. 
I travelled about five miles that day, and, seeing beaver 
signs plenty, I concluded to try my luck there. I made a 
nice wickiup in a thicket of cotton-woods, and, after that 
was built, I placed my traps in the creek until I got within 
two miles, maybe, of the Injun camp; for I saw the Injuns 
weren't working it, because, perhaps, they were after scalps, 
not beavers." 

"Were you not afraid of being so near them when 
alone ?" said I. 

" No," was the answer, " because I knew they wouldn't 
hurt me so long as I had made a friend of the chief; and 
that he was a friend I guessed from the way in which he 
took some matches from me. He didn't know what they 
were, except that they would light when struck; and as 



306 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

this seemed to be great medicine to him, I knew he would 
put them in his medicine-bag and worship them ever after, 
and I, of course, would always be respected by him for 
giving him the medicine. 

" Well, I stayed in camp there two days, but I wasn't 
idle, for I killed four deer, in order to have plenty of meat 
for a week or two. On the third day I visited my traps, 
and when I got to those near the Injun village I heard a 
tremendous yelling, and, on looking about, saw a dozen of 
the redskins running out of a piece of woods not seventy 
yards away from me, and about fifty more legging it after 
them and shooting arrows at them in a lively style. 

"I knew at once that it was a surprise by the Blackfeet; 
and as I did not care to be jumped by them, I dodged into 
the sage-brush and threw myself flat on the ground. Very 
soon after I saw three Injuns running across my front, and, 
on sitting up a little, found that the first was this Jem, and 
that the other two were big Blackfeet, who were screaming 
like the steam-whistle of a cotton-mill. Now, Jem having 
been good to me, I didn't care to see him double-banked; 
and as I had no great love for the thieving Blackfeet, I 
drew a bead on them and tumbled them both over in two 
shots as dead as a sardine-box. 

" When Jem heard the report of the firing he turned 
round ; and seeing that the Blackfeet had somehow disap- 
peared, he guessed what had become of them. I jumped 
up at the same time and beckoned to him to stop, which he 
did, and we both ran for camp together. I told him by the 
sign language what I had done, and, though he said noth- 
ing, I knew he was mighty thankful ; for it was more than 
likely that if I hadn't been round there his scalp would 
have gone to the Blackfeet nation, and he knew it. 
f " Well, when we got to camp all the braves had turned 
out to fight the Blackfeet; but, before they were driven 
off, I had a chance of trying my old 'Long Tom' on them, 
and I reckon I plunked four or five of them badly, if not 
for good. 

"After the old thieves had dusted out of sight, I learned 



THE MULE DEER. 30V 

liow they had surprised the Bannocks; and a nice trick it 
was, I tell you. Two of them dressed in the skins of the 
hlack bear came out on a knoll in sight of the camp, and 
began to act as Cuffey does, by raising themselves on their 
hind-legs, hanging down their paws, and tossing their head 
as that coon does when he is playing. The Bannocks saw 
them, and about twenty went out to capture them, intend- 
ing to have lots of fun ; but before they had gone a mile 
from the village they ran into a pile of Blackfeet, who were 
in ambush in a ravine, and these bounced 'em at once and 
killed seven of them. 

" When the Bannocks learned of their loss, the squaws 
and children set up the most tremendous piece of howling 
and crying I ever heard, and kept it going for two or three 
days ; while the boasting skunks, who had run away like 
scared antelopes, told of the great deeds of those who were 
scalped, though I doubt if they did anything more than 
scoot for camp as fast as they could. 

" When the wild howling was over, the village moved 
north, and I went with them, trapping and hunting wher- 
ever I had a chance. I learned their language in a short 
time ; but as I wasn't dead in love with their company, I 
left them as soon as I had a load of peltries, and went back 
to the settlements for three months. 

"I saw Jem again during the Snake War, as I was a 
Government scout, and did him a good turn when the In- 
juns were whipped. I have also met him several times 
since then, and always treated him kindly, so that he ought 
to remember me; and if he didn't do me a kindness I 
should consider he was meaner than a rattlesnake, or a ta- 
rantula and a skunk put together." 

While telling this tale he was preparing breakfast, and, 
when we finished that, he proposed that we should visit 
the Indian camp and cemetery on our way back. 

A walk of twenty minutes brought us to their village, 
which was picturesquely situated on the banks of the riv- 
ulet, and on the edge of the forest. When we entered, the 
chief met us and led us to his wigwam, and we were soon 



308 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST 






re-enforced by several others, who had come in to meet the 
friendly strangers. As soon as all were seated, the chief 
drew a long and large black-slate pipe out of a dirty bag, 
and filled it with tobacco ; and while he was doing this my 
companion told me it M T as intended as a sign of welcome, 
and that when it was passing around I should not speak a 
word, as even a whisper was considered to be bad medicine, 
and sure to bring them ill luck ; and to break its spell the 
pipe would have to be refilled, and the same ceremony gone 
through with ab initio. " I know you don't want to keep 
that pipe long in your mouth," said he, naively, " for it's 
old, foul, and dirty." I promised compliance with his re- | 
quest, and the ceremony commenced. The chief first took . 
a few whiffs in the most grave and formal manner, then 
handed the pipe to my friend, and, when he had taken two 
or three pulls, it was handed to me, and so it went all 
round the squatters. When all had taken a puff, the chief 
told them in short, broken sentences, which were vigorous ; 
though solemn, how kind a friend my companion had been ; 
and, when he finished his oration, there was a unanimous 
"uch" of approbation, which proved how thoroughly the 
friendship was appreciated. 

The guest answered them sententiously, and explained to 
them his purpose in coming into that region, and another 
" uch " followed, to prove that his statements were deemed 
correct and everything comme il faut. A young brave 
then arose, and said they were very sorry for disturbing 
our camp; that they would not have done so had they 
known who we were ; but that, though friendly to the pale- 
faces, some bad whites frequently stole their horses, and 
they did not know but we might be some of these bad peo- ; 
pie, as none of the regular settlers ever visited that section. 
More grunts followed this vigorous explanation ; then all 
dispersed, as they were anxious to recommence the buffalo- 
dance which they had been indulging in for several days, 
in order that they might have good medicine or luck in 
their buffalo-hunts ; for they were then preparing to go on 
their annual chase in Montana or British America. 



THE MULE BEER. 309 

We witnessed this dance, but it differed in no way from 
their ordinary rude jumping and stamping in a circle, ex- 
cept that the warriors wore masks made of buffalo-heads, 
or the skins of the animal thrown over their shoulders, 
while they sung, or rather yelled, some rude refrain, the 
leading part being taken by the medicine-man. 

All carried their rifles, or bows and arrows, in their 
hands, and went through the ceremony of shooting and 
cutting up imaginary buffaloes, and offering the best pieces 
to the Great Spirit. When a warrior became fatigued he 
retired, and his place was taken by another ; and so the 
ceremony was continued, perhaps, for days at a time. 

After looking at it as long as we wished, we left the 
camp and moved toward the burial-ground, and, on ap- 
proaching it, we heard loud wailing again. This cemetery 
was certainly novel, if not interesting, to look at ; for sev- 
eral mummy -like bodies, which were tightly wrapped in 
old clothes or buffalo-hides, were placed on poles or trees, 
and a number of skulls and bones were strewn over the 
ground. The feet of all pointed toward the rising sun ; 
and beside them were placed bows and arrows, old rifles, 
camp utensils, and such other articles as they were sup- 
posed to need in the happy hunting-grounds. The skins 
of mustangs and dogs were placed on tall poles in some 
places, these useful companions being intended to accom- 
pany the braves in their wanderings through the unknown 
land. 

They do not always get rid of their dead in this manner, 
however ; for if they are on the march they stick the body 
into any hole they meet, covering it lightly with stones, 
branches, and dirt; and a squaw or unimportant person- 
age does not even receive this rude sepulture, very often, 
but is left to rot on the ground, or is tumbled into a preci- 
pice, to be devoured by wild animals. A chief or famous 
brave is always buried with much barbaric pomp, and food 
is carried to him for several days, so that he may not want 
for pabulum on his long journey to his everlasting abode. 
The squaws often visit the remains of their kindred in the 



310 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

regular cemetery, and moan and wail by the hour beside 
them, calling them endearing names, and asking their for- 
giveness for any wrongs done them in life. Such a scene 
certainly appeals to a person's sympathy ; but, from what 
I could learn, I should fancy that the ceremony was one of 
formality rather than of feeling. 

We found two squaws in the burial-ground who were 
alternately crying loudly, or crooning a mournful chant, in 
which, according to my companion, they were calling upon 
their departed husbands to look with pity and kindness 
upon them, as they had ever tried to be good and dutiful 
wives. They also bemoaned their loss, as they had no per- 
son then to supply them with food, to kill the shaggy buf- 
falo, or to speak kind words to them. 

It is a custom, it seems, among some of the tribes, that a 
widow has no standing; and unless her own kindred pro- 
vide her with food and shelter, she might starve for what 
the majority cared. When we left the Golgotha the wom- 
en were still wailing; and so intense was it that it rung in 
my ears for several days afterward. 

When we returned to camp we decided to pack up and 
move some miles farther, as we did not expect to be able 
to find much game in that quarter, owing to the presence 
of the Indians. By five o'clock we reached a splendid 
camping-ground in a thicket of graceful, black pines, and 
convenient to water. After supper we retired to rest in 
security, and awoke the next morning before daylight, and 
after breakfast stalled toward the summit of the mountain, 
intending to beat downward — always the best plan to be 
followed in stalking the mule deer. In the course of half 
an hour we entered a most picturesque glade, which was 
clad with the greenest of grasses, and dainty, bright-hued 
sub-alpine flowers, and there saw two stags grazing as se- 
renely as if they did not have a foe on earth. After a 
brief consultation we concluded to separate, and, while un- 
friend worked to the windward, I crawled tediously down- 
ward from the leeward, taking care not to even tread on 
a decayed branchlet. When I reached to within what I 






TEE MULE DEER. 311 

deemed to be sixty yards of them, I raised my head and 
peered cautiously forward ; and when I saw they were still 
there my heart gave a throb of joy, for I felt almost sure 
of one at least; but, before I could raise my rifle, they 
were off like a flash, and running past me up the moun- 
tain. I fired at random, and almost simultaneously with 
my report came another from the left. Rushing into the 
glade to see what the result of the fire was, I met my com- 
panion, and we both commenced searching for some signs 
of blood ; and though we followed up the slots, which were 
readily discernible in the grass for half a mile, in the most 
careful manner, we concluded that both had missed, and 
we blessed ourselves accordingly. 

As the characteristic of a true hunter is to never get dis- 
heartened under any circumstances, we resumed our jour- 
ney, and began crawling and peering as before. We had 
not proceeded far before we saw four or five in a group 
near a ravine, and these we tried to stalk at once. I went 
up the mountain to head them off; and on reaching a fa- 
vorable position for a running shot, I gave a long but not 
loud whistle, as a signal to my companion that he might 
open the ball. He answered promptly with his rifle, and, 
on hearing it, I jumped behind a tree and placed my gun 
to my shoulder. In a few seconds I heard a crashing 
through the bushes, and, on looking out, saw a splendid 
stag come bounding toward me at an easy gait. I wait- 
ed until he came to within a few yards of me, then gave 
a sharp whistle. lie halted at once to learn its import, 
and gazed in the direction whence the sound emanated ; 
but before he could decide what it was, I planted a bullet 
right between the eyes, and he fell forward on his face 
Jistone dead. " Hoopee !" yelled I, in the most joyous man- 
ner, and, a little later, I heard a voice issuing from the for- 
iest, and calling out, "Have you got him?" "Yes, 1 ' said 
I; "come and see what a fine fellow he is." The owner 
of the voice was soon beside me, and using complimentary 
terms for bagging " such a fine critter." He was evident- 
ly full grown ; for his antlers, which were large and wide- 



312 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN TEE FAR WEST. 

spreading, boasted of sixteen points, and his body was as 
plump as that of a stuffed pheasant. We drew his viscera I 
at once, and tried to suspend him head downward on the 
bough of a large fir ; but as he was too heavy to be pushed 
up conveniently, I was compelled to climb the tree, and help 
to haul him up on the stub of a huge branch by means of 
a stout piece of twine that was fastened to the hind-legs. 

That matter being finished satisfactorily, I descended, 
and asked my companion what success he had met with, 
and he replied, in the dryest manner possible, that he reck- 1 
oned his deer was making fun of him on the other side of 
the ravine, but he hoped to be able to laugh at it in a short 
time. "I'll make that there critter pay for wagging his 
tail and kicking up his heels at me," said he, " and treating 
me with as much contempt as a horse-thief would a justice < 
of the peace." 

Further inquiry revealed the fact that he had fired and 
missed, although he thought he had made a hit, and that 
the animal had been making fun of him by wagging its 
tail violently as it disappeared down a canyon. 

As he presumed that the group had not moved far off, 
we returned to where they had been started, and followed 
their slots into the chasm, thence across it and up on the 
other side. We had scarcely emerged from its depths, be- 
fore we saw the animals trotting quietly away; but they 
did not move more than a hundred yards ere they stopped 
to gaze at us. The range was a long one — all of three 
hundred yards — but my companion concluded to try a shot, 
nevertheless ; so he picked out a large stag that presented 
a three-quarter view, and, taking deliberate aim, he fired at 
the heart; and when the smoke cleared away we beheld 
the herd scampering off at full speed. When he saw his 
quarry going as fast as the others, he burst into a vigorous 
expletive, and said he was sure the buck must be an en- 
chanted one, or he would not have missed him twice in 
succession. 

As every hunter knows a stag that nothing can kill, and 
defies every stratagem planned for his destruction, I was 



THE MULE DEER. 313 

rather amused at his apparent sincerity of expression, and 
asked him if lie had ever known or heard of an enchanted 
stag; and he replied that, while he did not believe in en- 
chantment except when exercised by woman's eyes, he was 
positively sure that there was an occasional buck that no 
person could hit with an ordinary rifle, and he felt certain 
that this was one of that class. While this conversation 
was taking place we were moving rapidly after the runa- 
ways; but before we had proceeded five hundred yards lie 
gave an exclamation of surprise, slapped his right thigh ve- 
hemently, and said, in the most emphatic manner, " By Je- 
rusalem ! I've got him ; he ain't enchanted after all." On 
looking at the ground, I saw several large drops of blood, 
and, following them up, we came upon the stag in a clump 
of bushes. He was perfectly dead, and by the manner in 
which he lay we presumed he had received a wound in the 
heart. An examination revealed this fact, and also that a 
rifle-ball had struck the under portion of his tail ; as it was 
cut, though not deeply, from the tip to nearly the root. 

After my friend had exhausted his joy at having killed 
such a tough customer, he said he would pardon him now 
for waving his tail at him, for almost any "critter" would 
hoist his flag when it was stung like that. We treated 
this one as we had the last, but, instead of hanging it, we 
cached it on a huge bowlder, to keep it safe from wolves 
and bears. 

Our next move was to clamber toward the summit of 
the mountain, but always beating to the windward, as we 
did not want to lose any chances, and the deer were appar- 
ently so plentiful, and so little hunted, that we were anx- 
ious to secure venison enough to last for some time. We 
trudged along for an hour or more, but saw none, though 
their slots were visible in many places. On reaching a 
small basin-like tarn, we scanned its banks closely, and de- 
scried on the opposite side a group of half a dozen or more 
stags, which were slaking their thirst in its bluish water. 

While we were standing in the shade of a tree, we no- 
ticed that they took only one long draught before raising 

14 



314 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

their heads to survey their surroundings, and that some 
one of them was always peering about. While watching 
them with keen interest, they made a sudden plunge into 
the water, and swam rapidly toward us ; and, on looking 
for the cause of their unexpected alarm, we saw a young 
stag struggling bravely against a dozen or more wolves; 
but as his hamstring was evidently cut by the cunning 
prowlers, he could do nothing more than use his horns vig- 
orously, while they harassed him on every side. 

The poor fellow was snorting and plunging and scatter- 
ing the leaves and fallen branches about, in his mad efforts 
to escape; but, before we could learn his fate, our attention 
was attracted to the animals approaching us. When they 
reached to within a few yards of the bank, we fired at them - 
in rapid succession ; but we killed only two, the remainder 
escaping by swimming toward another portion of the bank. 
I have found it rather a difficult matter to shoot deer in 
the water when they were moving from me, as only a small 
portion of the skull is seen ; hence, though we fired at 
them several times, I doubt if we hit one severely enough 
to cripple it. The two in the lake were pulled ashore by 
my friend, who dragged them after him one by one until 
they were in water so shallow that we could both pull 
them on terra firma together. 

When they were landed, which required no small effort 
to accomplish, we turned our attention to the wolves, and 
ran as fast as we could around the lake in their direction. 
When we reached to within one or two hundred yards of 
them we halted to watch their actions, and to get a shot at 
them if possible. A momentary glance revealed to us the 
fact that they were fighting and snarling over the slain an- 
imal ; but we could see nothing of it, so closely were they 
grouped about it. We therefore concluded that we might 
bag one or two, owing to their heedlessness to all things 
but the feast they were enjoying ; so we advanced toward 
them as stealthily as possible, and got to within fifty yards 
of them before we were detected. 

They showed little fear of us, however, for they did not 



THE MULE DEER. 315 

attempt to escape ; and as we intended to make bay while 
the sun shone, we opened a rapid fire on them, and kept it 
up for several seconds. When we ceased the majority of 
the pack were gone, but they left five of their comrades, 
dead and wounded, behind them. Two were killed out- 
right; and the other three were so badly crippled "that they 
could not escape; and these we soon finished with our re- 
volvers. They made no effort to show fight, and we could 
have kicked them without, apparently, eliciting any more 
display of feeling from them than a howl of pain. 

Having had a most unexpected and unusual, if not ex- 
traordinary, morning's sport, we decided to place all our 
game together in a secure cache, and to take home only 
one buck for fresh meat. It took us four hours of hard 
walking and steady toil to accomplish this ; and, when we 
finished, we were as weary a pair of hunters as the coun- 
try could produce that day. When we returned to camp 
we found its faithful guardian dozing near the fire, and re- 
ceived from him a joyous greeting. 

While my comrade attended to the preparations for sup- 
per I went for water to the rivulet; and there I found a 
splendid yearling doe lying dead, her throat being cut open 
and torn from the jowl to near the chest. I supposed at 
first it was the work of a cougar, but, on tilting up the legs, 
I saw the blood run out; and knowing the habit that ani- 
mal has of drinking up the life fluid before it touches any- 
thing else, and then dragging the body away to a place 
of concealment, I concluded I had guessed wrongly that 
time; yet I knew it could not have been wolves that had 
killed her, or they would have eaten her in the twinkling 
of an eye. I was sorely puzzled to account for her death, 
and, when I returned to camp, I told my companion of the 
fact. " It must be Dick's work," said he ; " and, if it is, 
we'll soon know it." Calling the dog, we returned to the 
rivulet, and when we approached it that intelligent fellow 
ran forward and commenced worrying the animal — a proof 
that he had seen it before ; so we decided that he was the 
hero of the occasion. 



316 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

When Ave carried it back we cut it up, and cooked a por- 
tion of it for dinner ; and I must say it was the tenderest 
and most succulent venison I had ever tasted. We hung 
what we did not use on a tree; but its smell brought so 
many wolves about the camp during the night that they 
annoyed us sorely, and we had to use our rifles and shot- 
guns occasionally on them, always taking aim at the shin- 
ing eyes, which were illumined so brightly by the fire that 
they seemed to glow. We killed seven of them before 
eleven o'clock, and after that time they gave us a rest, 
though their melancholy howling rung in our ears all night 
long. 

My companion told me during the evening that he had 
never seen a deer so easily captured by wolves as the one 
in the morning, and he attributed it to its being surprised. 
Deer always head for the water, it seems, when pursued by 
these animals; but he never knew the latter to follow them 
through it, though he had seen them head one off in a lake, 
and finally capture it by keeping it swimming until it was 
so exhausted that it could make no defence against them. 

We hunted in this section for two days with splendid 
success, then descended to the foot-hills, in order to bag 
some does and fawns; for the latter rarely go as high up 
on the mountains as the males, as they think they enjoy 
greater security by hiding in the thickets than in bound- 
ing over the rocky pinnacles. Another reason advanced by 
hunters for this characteristic is, that when the fawns are 
young they have not the sense of smell, so that they are 
more likely to escape their many foes when concealed in 
thickets than if they had the sense fully developed, and kept 
to open ground. Dams also prefer such places to secrete 
their youngsters while they are out grazing; so that it is 
evidently a wise choice on their part to keep to the foot- 
hills. The ground being wet, we decided to make a bed for 
ourselves that would lift us out of the reach of rheumatism; 
and this we did by driving four crotches, sharpened at one 
end, into the ground, and placing stout boughs upon them. 
We then put branches across the main supports in the same , 



THE MULE DEER. 317 

manner as slats are in the ordinary wooden bedstead, and 
these we covered with a generous supply of the branehlets 
of pine, fir, and larch, until we had completed a fragrant 
couch fit for the gods. Over this we spread our blankets ; 
and after pressing it once or twice to see that it was soft, 
we were perfectly contented with it, and enjoyed, in antici- 
pation, a stretch upon it after the toils of a day's hunting. 
Having partaken of a hearty dinner, we set out in quest of 
deer; but after a tramp of two hours we saw nothing at 
which to fire, except some coveys of blue grouse ; but as 
we did not care to waste ammunition on them just then, 
we allowed them to rest in peace. While loitering along 
on our way back to camp, my friend called my attention to 
the outline of a deer's head, which was visible through the 
shrubbery about thirty or forty yards away. The animal 
was evidently looking at us with the greatest curiosity, and 
trying to decide to what species we belonged. As we were 
at a halt, and to the leeward, it did not become alarmed ; 
and I do not know how long it would have remained star- 
ing at us, had not my companion asked me to fire at it. 
Taking deliberate aim, I pulled the trigger slowly, and, 
when the report ceased, I heard a heavy crashing in the un- 
dergrowth. On reaching the spot, we found a handsome 
doe lying dead, the ball having entered the skull near the 
top, and coming out at the back part. She was such a 
handsome creature that I felt almost sorry for killing her, 
and actually wished her alive again. On looking at her, 
I could not help noting the ridiculous contrast which her 
huge, awkward-looking ears and rat-like tail presented to 
her fine body and graceful limbs ; and this caused me to 
think that Nature must have some special purpose in view 
in combining the graceful and the ludicrous in the same 
animal or thing. 

Leaving her where she fell, we commenced beating down 
and across the wind, and soon espied two does and their 
fawns a short distance ahead ; but, before we could fire at 
them, they went scurrying to the right up the hill. Still 
onward we toiled ; but though we saw several fawns and 



318 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

their dams, they were off like a flash the moment they es- 
pied us. I always found it an exceedingly difficult matter 
to approach does when their fawns were with them, as they 
fled immediately on beholding any strange object; and the 
crackling of boughs or the brushing of leaves caused them 
to stampede even before the hunter appeared in sight. 
Their long ears catch sounds a great distance off, and their 
sight is also fairly sharp ; so that one has to move in the 
most circumspect manner, and halt frequently, if he would 
bag them. We found it a much easier matter to stalk the 
stags than the does, so we concluded that we had not im- 
proved our prospects much by a change of camp. We 
kept up our hope, however, and toiled away until near sun- 
set, when we came suddenly upon a group of does and 
fawns as they were drinking in a ravine a few feet below us. 
We approached them so cautiously that they did not hear 
us, and it was not until we stood over them that they de- 
tected our presence. On recognizing us, however, they were 
off like a shot, and, as they dashed up the opposite side, we 
let drive at them. Following in rapid pursuit, Ave found 
one dead within a distance of three hundred yards, the ball 
having entered the spinal column at the root of the tail, 
and from traces of blood seen farther on, we deduced that 
another was wounded. We followed the trail at a rapid 
run for a mile or more; but not seeing anything of the in- 
jured animal, we returned to the slain one, and carried it to 
camp by slinging it on a pole by the hind-legs, and placing 
the pole on our shoulders. The first doe killed was 
brought in a little later, and all our trophies were then 
placed together after the viscera were drawn. 

We hunted in these mountains seven days, and killed 
twenty deer, a few wolves, and several brace of pine hens; 
but we could have done much better if we had kept to the 
peaks instead of the foot-hills ; for the stags, cautious as 
they may be, cannot be compared in this characteristic with 
does having fawns by their sides. Our departure home- 
ward was hastened by having a polecat invade our camp — 
an intrusion which the dog resented, so he killed it; but 



THE MULE BEER. 319 

not before he received such a shower of perfume as made 
him the bane of every person he came in contact with for a 
week or two afterward. 

Our stock of venison was so large that we had to trans- 
port it in detail on the backs of the mules and mustangs to 
the valley, and this required two days to accomplish ; for 
some of the deer were so heavy that one was an ample load 
over rough ground. When all were together we cached 
them in a ravine ; and while my friend went home after 
two wagons to take our trophies back, I remained behind 
to keep guard over them, and to spend a day by myself in 
the mountains. 

Mounting my mustang early in the morning, I rode to- 
ward the Indian camp, and reached it in three hours; but 
where all had been barbaric revelry a few days before, noth- 
ing was now to be seen except old poles and piles of bones 
and offal. While wandering carelessly through it, I was 
startled to see two creatures, which bore a strong resem- 
blance to revivified mummies, seated under a wickiup made 
of a few fir-branches ; and, on drawing near them, I found 
they were a squaw and a buck, who were so aged that their 
skin was one mass of flabby wrinkles, and so decayed that 
their features looked like old and crumpled parchment. 
They were so blind that they could not see me, though 
only a few feet distant; and it was only when I spoke that 
they recognized my presence, and gave me to understand 
by the sign language they knew I was a white man. 

The only food they had was a few pieces of dog-meat, 
which were hung from a pole near them, while a feeble fire 
of wet boughs was the only heat they had to warm their 
stagnant blood. Though I could not speak to them, I knew 
what their fate was; for it is a common custom among the 
Indians to leave the aged and decrepit behind them when 
they go on a long march or on a hunt; because they are 
considered to be too much of a burden to be taken along, 
and are deemed to be of no greater use than to feed wild 
animals, which they sometimes do, or to eat up the sub- 
stance of the young, which they are not often allowed to 



320 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

do. They expect to meet this fate, and do not grumble 
at it ; as they say they acted toward their forefathers in 
the same manner, and they cannot expect any different 
treatment. 

On seeing their condition, I built a rousing fire for them, 
left wood within their reach, and soon brought them in a 
young wolf, which I cut up and left near them, so that they 
might not be compelled to make any efforts to obtain it. 
After this I returned to camp ; and I had scarcely done so 
ere a violent storm, accompanied by thunder and lightning, 
burst forth with the greatest fury. The rain seemed to 
come down in black lines through a yellowish atmosphere; 
the lightning darted like flashes of electric light across the 
sky; and the mountains seemed to fairly vibrate beneath 
the shocks of thunder that growled, spluttered, and roared 
without much intermission nearly all night long. When I 
awoke the next morning, the air Avas so clear and bracing 
that I concluded to have a walk before breakfast ; but, on 
emerging from my tent, I was surprised to see volumes 
of dense smoke hanging over a portion of the mountain! 
in the direction of the Indian camp, and to note the oc- 
casional appearance of a tongue of lurid light, as it shot 
skyward. 

I realized the situation at once ; and as the flames ap- 
peared to be approaching my jDosition, I struck tent in the 
promptest maimer, and then awaited the arrival of my com- 
panion most anxiously, for I was very much afraid that, if 
he did not hasten, the trophies of the week would be lost 
to us. He did not disappoint me, as he arrived at an early 
hour; and after placing the teams and venison in a place 
of safety, we tried to enter the forest in the direction of 
the Indian camp, to see if we could rescue the poor creat- 
ures who had been left there; but we found all our efforts 
unavailing, owing to the density of the smoke, which blind- 
ed and partially suffocated us, and the terror of our horses, 
which nothing could induce to charge through the black 
clouds. Finding we could do nothing further, we wheeled 
about and rode back to our cache, but not a moment too 



THE MULE DEEIi. 321 

soon, as the fire had broken out so closely behind us that 
we were just able to flank it without being compelled to 
get any nearer the crackling flames than to barely feel their 
heat, though the smoke was thick and choking enough to 
make us gag a little, and to bring the tears in streams to 
our eyes. Had we been a little later in getting away, we 
should have been forced to leave our horses to their fate, 
as we could not have ridden them across a chasm that ap- 
proached our position closely on the left, and which would 
have obstructed our passage had we not been able to flank 
it by our timely retreat. 

On reaching the teams, we started for home at our best 
pace, and arrived there in good time, much to the delight 
of the housewife. While discussing the events of the morn- 
ing and our narrow escape, my host said that the fire was 
undoubtedly caused by a thunder-bolt striking an old tree, 
and that this soon communicated the flames to the grass 
and shrubbery, so that a large section of country was in a 
blaze in a short time. As the Indian camp was evidently 
one of the first places to catch fire, it was an easy matter 
to guess at the horrible fate of the two poor wretches 
who were left there ; and this led the host to indulge in 
the most vigorous denunciation of the inhumanity of the 
red race. The fire raged for a week or more before its 
fierceness began to wane, and when I left that section of 
country a large portion of the forest was still enveloped in 
clinging clouds of smoke. 

The mule deer, which is known as the burro, or jackass 
deer, among the Spaniards and Mexicans of California, was 
formerly so abundant in Montana that out of fifteen hun- 
dred deer killed by three men in the Judith Basin in less 
than six weeks, the larger number was supposed to be- 
long to this species. These were destroyed for their hides 
alone ; and as each hide did not probably i-ealize more than 
a dollar, one can understand how many valuable animals 
were slaughtered for a paltry sum. This ruthless destruc- 
tion is producing the most disastrous results; for where 
mule deer were so plentiful in 1868 that they could be seen 

14* 



322 SFORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

by the hundred in a march of twenty-four hours, scarcely a 
dozen could be seen in the same region in IS 7V. 

The reckless skin-hunters are mainly responsible for this 
waste of life, for the Indians, much as they live by the 
fruits of the chase, are careful to utilize the meat; where- 
as the others allow it to rot in the sun or be devoured by 
predatory animals. Where these men have not commenced 
their nefarious work the mule deer is still plentiful ; and of 
these regions I do not know any that are better than por- 
tions of Montana and Idaho, the eastern division of Ore- 
gon, and Washington Territory, especially in the wooded 
mountainous parts, and the Coast Mountains in California. 
To these might be added some of the more sparsely settled 
sections of Colorado and the hilly sections of Manitoba. 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 323 



CHAPTER XL 

THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER, AND THEIR 
VARIETIES. 

The Black-tailed and Virginia Deer, and their Varieties. — Range of the 
Black - tail. — Misapplication of Names. — Size, Speed, and Jumping 
Power. — Character of its Flesh. — Its Abundance. — Great Numbers 
slaughtered Annually. — Objection of Pot-hunters to Hounds. — Best 
Kind of Dogs for hunting it in the Forests. — Packs in the North-west. 
— Use of Deer-hounds. — Where to find the Black-tail. — The White-tail- 
ed Deer. — Its Haunts and Habits. — Difference between it and the Black- 
tail when running before Hounds. — Its Intrusive Character and Abun- 
dance. — How Farmers keep it away from their Crops. — Antipathy be- 
tween Sheep and Deer. — Fondness for Salt and Sulphur Springs. — Best 
Weapon for hunting it. — The Spotted and White Deer. — The Former a 
Great Pet. — The Latter supposed to be a Wandering Spirit by the In- 
dians. — Where found. — The Virginia Deer. — Its Feeding-grounds. — Best 
Time for stalking it. — How to stalk it. — The Dwarf Deer. — Its Haunts, 
Habits, and Numbers. — Different Methods of hunting Deer. — A Day's 
Hunting in the Woods with Hounds. — Number Captured. — A Fortnight 
in the Forests of Washington Territory. — Our Camp and Hunting Expe- 
rience. — Extraordinary Abundance of Fur, Fin, and Feather. — Incidents 
of Sport and Camp Life. — Merry Times. — Attacked by a Buck. — Lost in 
the Forest. — Actions of a Man when lost. — How I reached Camp. — Ex- 
cursions after Fin and Feather. — Homeward bound. — A Grand Hunt- 
ball. — The Ball-room and the People. — An Original Band.— The Terpsi- 
choreans, and how they were put through their Figures. — Ball-room 
Scenes and Repasts. — A Hunt-dinner. — Rambling once more. — A Pleas- 
ant Reminiscence. 

The black-tailed deer {Cariacus columbianus: Gray) is 
confined to the region lying between the Sierra Nevada 
and Cascade Ranges and the Pacific Ocean. Its range ex- 
tends from Alaska and British Columbia to Mexico ; hence 
it is found in Washington Territory, Oregon, and Califor- 
nia, and large numbers frequent the dense forests of these 
regions. I never heard of it or saw it in the interior pla- 
teaux lying between the above chains and the Rocky Moun- 
tains, the so-called black-tail of that vast area being the 



324 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

mule deer. This indiscriminate application of names causes 
much confusion to persons seeking a knowledge of the dis- 
tribution of deer, unless they kill and examine the animals 
themselves, or receive their information from some compe- 
tent authority; but as there is no work thus far that de- 
scribes the mammals of the United States, they must, if 
they have had no experience, depend on a local naturalist 
for their facts. 

Having made the acquaintance of the true black-tail on 
the shores of the Pacific, and having never seen it east of 
the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges, in California, Ore- 
gon, or Washington Territory, I was rather surprised to 
hear of it in Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado; but, 
on killing the species called by that name, I found it to be 
the true C. macrotis. 

The black-tailed deer receives its technical name from 
the Columbia River, and very justly, I should infer, for it 
is found in greater numbers along the wooded portions of 
that stream than in any other part of the Pacific Coast. It 
is a true denizen of the woods, its favorite haunts being 
amidst the deepest and dampest recesses of those gigantic 
forests of firs and spruces which extend for hundreds of 
miles along the shores of the Northern Pacific Ocean. 

It ranks next to the mule deer in size, being much larger, 
fleeter, and heavier in frame than its Eastern congener, the 
Virginia deer. I have known some full-grown stags to at- 
tain a weight of over two hundred and fifty pounds, but 
the does are, of course, much lighter. I would also feel in- 
clined to assert that it has few among its kindred that can 
excel it in running and jumping, for I have seen it clear a 
corral wall ten or twelve feet high, and I have often been 
astonished at the ease with which it bounded over fallen 
trees and their high, bare branches. I made some notes 
of leaps which I have seen it make ; but as they have been 
lost, I can only speak from memory; and, depending on 
that alone, I would say that it can clear a fourteen-feet wall 
or fence. 

It is not so highly prized, from a gastronomic point of 




VIEGINIA2* DEEK. 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 327 

view, in the Far West as the mule deer, as its flesh is less 
succulent and more fibry. It is, however, in my estimation, 
equal to any of its European congeners, and, when it is not 
injured by hard running, any epicure might gloat over a 
haunch of its flesh, and have few criticisms to make on its 
daintiness. Some persons consider the meat dry and some- 
what leathery; but that has not been my experience, and 
I doubt if any one could find fault with a buck or doe in 
good condition. Fawns are not fit for the table before the 
October or November after their birth, that is, when they 
are about six months old ; for previous to that time their 
flesh is insipid and devoid of much fat. 

The black-tail is found from the wooded plains to nearly 
the snow-line on mountains in some portions of the West, 
and in California it frequents thickets of undergrowth ; 
hence it is also known as the mountain and the brush deer, 
besides its ordinary appellation, according to the character 
of the country which it inhabits. 'It is so abundant in cer- 
tain portions of the Pacific Coast that I have heard of mar- 
ket hunters who killed five and six hundred in a season by 
stalking alone; and it was reported to me in 1874 that 
over three thousand were slaughtered within a period of 
five months in a region having an area of less than two 
hundred miles, and that most of them were sent to market 
and sold at four cents, or twopence per pound. The retail 
sellers charged from ten to twelve cents per pound for the 
venison, so that they realized more than a hundred per 
cent, profit on their investment. 

Great as the slaughter is, the animal is still very abun- 
dant, especially in the densely wooded regions north of Cali- 
fornia; and for years to come it will probably be looked 
upon as a nuisance by some pioneers in that country, as it 
frequently injures or devours young crops of growing ce- 
reals, and tramples down strawberry and vegetable beds. 
Its profusion may be judged from the fact that a person 
need not go three miles from any town in Oregon or 
Washington Territory to meet one, and perhaps a dozen. 
It is, I believe, the most numerous species of deer in Cali- 



328 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

forma, for thousands are slaughtered there annually by 
market hunters, pot-hunters, and sportsmen. This is spe- 
cially true of the more northern region of the State, where 
the forests are still heavy and extensive, and settlements 
are* scarce compared to the more southern parts. 

Many of the ranchers depend largely on wild game for 
their fresh meat, and of this the flesh of the black-tail forms 
the most prominent portion. 

A person can seldom visit a cabin hidden in the forest 
without finding a deer or two suspended outside the door, 
while he may see dozens of splendid mountain trout, a bar- 
rel of fresh salmon, or the white-fish of the Pacific inside. 
The consequence is, that some persons live there in almost 
Oriental idleness ; for many might say, as one said to me, 
"Why, what's the use of working? I can kill all the 
meat I want in the woods, and catch all the fish I want 
with a grasshopper, and grow all the wine I want in my 
back garden, and all the fruit and vegetables I want in that 
patch behind the house, and I can kill deer and bears 
enough to supply me with clothing and whiskey. Now, 
why should I work hard, when I can get everything I want 
without it?" 

I learned from this man that he had earned over a hun- 
dred dollars by selling deer-skins alone in one winter; but 
as he could not realize more than fifty cents or a dollar for 
each skin, he must have slain one or two hundred of the 
animals to obtain that amount. I asked him how he man- 
aged to kill so many, and he replied that he never allowed 
a hound to run a deer in his district; and if he found one 
doing so, he either poisoned or shot it. These pot-hunters 
never allow hounds in what they call their own country, if 
possible, as they say that the deer are driven off by the 
baying and running, and, if pursued much, that they desert 
the region for good. 

In Oregon and Washington Territory, however, the ani- 
mals are largely hunted with hounds of all grades, from 
the half-bred mongrels to harriers, fox-hounds, curs, and 
Indian dogs. 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 329 

The best clogs, and those most prized for the general 
purposes of hunting in that country, are those that are 
rather small, keen of nose, and have a rich musical voice. 

Large hounds would be of little use in many parts of 
that densely wooded region, as they cannot well force their 
way through the matted shrubbery and heavy fern brakes 
without much severe labor; whereas small ones can easily 
pass under the entwining branches, or scramble through 
the tangled mass. They are not so liable either to get 
footsore or leg- weary as the others ; hence one can hunt 
with the same pack day after day by dividing it into de- 
tachments. 

When a grand hunt is organized in a neighborhood, the 
farmers who are on friendly terms with each other unite 
into one company, each bringing his own dogs with him ; 
and in this manner an excellent working pack is soon as- 
sembled — though in looks, voice, and breeding its members 
might not bear the criticisms of judges of canine excel- 
lence. If the hunt is to last for a week or two, the hounds 
are divided into groups, and those that run one day are 
left in camp the next; and when rested in this manner 
they are able to work uninterruptedly for three or four 
weeks at a time, and to run from five to twenty deer in a 
day. Those persons who relish the cry of the hounds as 
much as the haunch of venison, keep seven or eight couples 
of good dogs and run them together, and their "sweet 
voice" causes the forests to ring with melodious strains 
from morning till night. There are few more pleasing 
sounds than the cry of a clear -voiced pack amidst the 
woods and mountains of the country, as every note is 
echoed and re-echoed in stentorian tones over an area sev- 
eral miles square; and this gives one an idea that thou- 
sands of dogs are giving tongue at the same time. An- 
other advantage that a slow-going pack has over a swift 
one is, that the deer are not driven at such a pace as to 
injure their flesh, and that the hunter has a better chance 
of killing them as they move past his stand. 

One of the greatest annoyances attending deer-hunting 



330 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

in the dense forests of the North-west is the number that 
escape after being mortally wounded, as they seek shelter 
in the heaviest shrubbery, where it is almost impossible to 
find them, let one be even Argus-eyed. This is specially 
true in stalking or still-hunting, for a deer will often carry 
away a large quantity of lead before it falls. I have known 
one to be shot in the heart and run a long distance ere it 
fell, and another to escape for good although its fore-shoul- 
der was broken. This was killed a year later, and when 
skinned it was found that the leg was as stiff as a bone, 
while the flesh had become as hard as leather, owing to the 
paralysis of the muscles. Shots in the abdomen and ribs 
are not likely to bring it down promptly, and I knew one 
to receive a load of buckshot in the neck and escape. I 
have, on the contrary, seen one tumbled over with a buck- 
shot that struck it in the root of the tail, or in the fore- * 
head, and I have killed one myself with a charge of No. 6 
shot. 

To hunt the black-tail with any degree of success, per- 
sons must resort to a dense part of the forest; and if the 
country is hilly, so much the better is the opportunity for 
sport, for the animal seems partial to a somewhat rugged 
habitat. It roams to an altitude of three or four thousand 
feet in summer, but late in the autumn it descends to the 
lowlands ; and in the Far North-west it is fond of frequent- 
ing the regions near the Pacific Ocean, to enjoy the thermal 
currents of air that flow toward the interior from the Sea 
of Japan. Hundreds of deer and wapitis may then be 
found close to the shore, and if a person is any kind of a 
shot he may kill many of them by exercising ordinary pre- 
cautions. 

The white-tailed deer (Cariaciis leitcurus: Gray) is not 
so much attached to the forest depths as the preceding, 
for its favorite habitat seems to be glades or the coppices 
which skirt the borders of small prairies. It is not so large 
or so swift as its black-tailed congener, and many persons 
consider it to be inferior in flesh. This animal, which 
seems to be a variety of the Virginia deer — the difference 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 331 

between them being very slight — is known as the long-tail- 
ed, the white-tailed, and the valley deer. Its range on the 
Pacific slope extends from the Rocky Mountains to the 
ocean. In the interior basins lying between the Cascade 
and Sierra Nevada Ranges and the above mountains, it is 
distributed geographically over the same area as the mule 
deer; but west of the Sierra Nevadas the latter is com- 
paratively scarce, while the other is abundant. It has, in 
fact, the same range over the Far West that the Virginia 
deer has in the East, and the habits of both are almost 
identical. 

When pursued with hounds, it does not head for the hills, 
and double and twist, as its black -tailed congener does, 
but dashes straight for rivers or lakes, let them be even 
several miles distant. It always follows one of the numer- 
ous trails which leads to its watering-places; and should 
it be checked on its route, it will sometimes turn back 
and run until it is caught by the hounds. Its jumps are 
shorter and quicker than those of the black-tail, and it also 
seems to tire more readily, for I have known it to be capt- 
ured by rather slow dogs in a run of three or four hours. 

This species is so abundant in many parts of the North- 
west as to be also considered a nuisance, and ranchers are 
often compelled to scatter poison over a portion of their 
young crops to keep it away, especially if their farm is 
situated in the dense woods, and the animals are not hunt- 
ed much. During the rutting season the male becomes 
very bold, and does not hesitate a moment to leap over 
a fence to lead his chosen mate to the dainty young ce- 
reals that the pioneer has planted near his house. It de- 
stroys these very frequently ; hence those persons who live 
close to forests have to keep dogs to drive the intruders 
away. I knew a man in Washington Territory to kill sev- 
eral one evening with a rifle from his bedroom window, 
and I have shot three myself in a garden within an hour 
on a moonlight nierht. 

When its numbers become less, some pioneers in that 
country will be glad of it, for at present many consider it 



332 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

too numerous, and to do move harm than good. " If I had 
my way," said a pioneer to me, " I'd pizen the whole pesky 
lot of 'em in this deestrict, for my heart is broke tryin' to 
keep 'em away from my young crops of wheat and veg- 
etables. It's no use tryin' to kill 'em off, for them thar 
women deer have two or three kids at a time, and the 
youngsters are jest as bad as their mothers in a couple o' 
months after they're born ; and as for them bucks, I think 
they're the most tarnal impident critters that ever lived. 
Why, one of 'em charged my little gal when she went to 
drive him and his mate away ; and but for the dog runnin' 
up to her, he might a hurt her." 

This man did not have any feelings about the enthusi- 
asm of the chase, and he looked upon a deer more as a 
nuisance than as a game animal. He thought a sheep was 
of far more use than the antlered beauty, and that its flesh 
was also more palatable ; and he supposed that one deer 
would eat as much as two sheep. He had discovered that 
the former would not graze wherever the droppings of the 
latter were found, and that it would assuredly leave any 
region over which sheep roamed ; so he drove his flock 
through the woods in various directions, and made a cir- 
cuit with them for several hundred yards about his small 
farm ; and he found after awhile that the deei', much to 
his satisfaction, deserted the immediate neighborhood, and 
let his crops grow without attempting to molest them. I 
have heard of other forest ranchers who adopted the same 
method of protecting their gardens, and they found it 
successful. This antipathy between deer and sheep is so 
strong that the former will even avoid salt licks and sul- 
phur springs, of which they seem madly fond, if the latter 
graze about them or leave their droppings near them. 

Hunters who are in the vicinity of these springs or 
" licks " kill more deer than they could elsewhere, as the 
animals frequent them both morning and evening, and 
revel in the dainties they afford. If a person is well con- 
cealed, and to the leeward, he may slay many a fine buck 
or graceful doe during the evening or early morning near 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 333 

these places, for they do not readily take alarm at the re- 
port of a rifle or shot-gun. The latter is by far the most 
effective weapon for forest shooting, as the woods are so 
dense, and the shrubbery so matted, that a rifle-ball is read- 
ily deflected from a straight course by intervening bushes, 
whereas some of the buckshot is almost sure of reaching 
its destination. A ten -bore, weighing about ten pounds, 
would prove a capital arm for deer-shooting, as it is good 
up to a range of ninety or one hundred yards ; and it is 
seldom that one can see an animal beyond that distance in 
the forest, or fire at it with any degree of success. 

I have tried both rifle and shot-gun in these North-west- 
ern woods, and found that I made my best bags with the 
latter, and where I made two misses with one, I made none 
with the other. For shooting in the open, however, the 
rifle is much the better, as the deer, if hunted much, are 
shy and vigilant, and, unless surprised, rarely allow a person 
to approach them to less than two or three hundred yards, 
except by the most careful stalking. 

The white-tail, which is largely pursued with hounds in 
the Far North-west, affords many a splendid run to both 
dogs and hunters, for the latter must not allow the grass to 
grow under their feet if they would get a shot at it as it 
dashes through the woods. Its numbers enable nearly all 
persons, even in a large party, to bag some ; and if one has 
his wits about him he may score three or four in a day 
sometimes. 

Two other varieties of deer are found in Oregon and 
Washington Territory, but they are most numerous on 
Whidby Island, in the latter region. These are undoubt- 
edly hybrids; but they are nevertheless the prettiest speci- 
mens of their family, and are great favorites with the in- 
habitants, who frequently keep them as pets about the 
house. Even the unromantic skippers of the small trading- 
vessels that ply on Puget Sound have one aboard very of- 
ten, and its bright and prominent colors contrast strongly 
with the woods or vegetables that cover the deck of the 
craft. 



334 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

The most abundant variety boasts many different hues, 
and this fact has given it the name of the spotted deer. 
Some that I saw had reddish cheeks and a white face; the 
sides were sprinkled over with large patches of brownish- 
red and white; the under parts and tail were white; the 
legs below the knees were of a chestnut color tipped with 
white, and the muzzle was very black. The fact that near- 
ly all had white tails caused me to think it was an albino 
of the white-tailed species ; hence I classified it as C. leu- 
curus, variety variatus • and this classification was adopted 
by the Museum of Natural History in Portland. I learned 
from a very competent authority that these animals were 
the prevailing type on Whidby Island; that they associ- 
ated together and produced their young spotted like them- 
selves; and from this I deduced, though perhaps without 
sufficient authority, that the variety was permanent, and 
therefore worthy of being distinguished from its kindred 
by a varietal name. 

I saw several cases of albinoism in the country, but the 
specimens differed from the preceding in their markings. 
One captured on a range of hills in Oregon had the front 
part of the face near the antlers of a pure white, while that 
near the nose was a dark chestnut tipped with gray. The 
cheeks were white ; the ears were white inside, and a red- 
dish-brown outside; the sides were a dark chestnut mixed 
with grayish-white ; the belly and flanks, and the legs as 
far as the knees, were a pure white ; the lower portions of 
the limbs were rufous ; and a broad, white dorsal band ex- 
tended from the ears to the tail. This seemed to belong 
to the black-tailed species, as the cauda was black above, 
and white and black beneath. 

A snow-white deer is also found on Whidby Island, and 
high up on several of the mountain ranges. This is also 
said to keep its hue permanently, and to herd together in 
groups varying from five to a dozen or more. A man in 
Washington Territory had four of them about his house 
for three or four years; and he reports that they never 
changed their color, except that the white seemed to bright- 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 335 

en in winter. This variety is said to be new to the coun- 
try, and Indians report that it was not known until a short 
time previous to the advent of the white man. When first 
discovered by the Indian hunters they were astonished, and 
refused to kill it, thinking it was the wandering spirit of 
some man or woman transformed into a deer for transgres- 
sions committed while on earth ; and many of them even 
now hold the same opinion, and would not injure it on any 
account. When the medicine-men and prophets heard of 
the new animal they began their incantations to learn what 
it signified ; and some of them deduced therefrom that a 
white race of men would soon appear, and that, like the 
white deer, they would be cautious, vigilant, and hard to 
kill, and would finally prevail by numerical superiority. 
This legend is distributed among several tribes in the 
North-west, so it would seem that it has been in existence 
for many years. The creature, for all that, is rather scarce, 
and has by no means kept pace with the increase of the 
race of men to whom the red prophets have allied it. It is 
more abundant in the Siskiyou Mountains, which separate 
Oregon and California, and in the Cascade Range, than in 
any other portions of the country, its favorite haunts being 
the higher plateaux of these chains. Very little is known 
of its habits, but they, apparently, do not differ from those 
of the other deer. 

The Virginia deer, the typical species of the Atlantic 
States, is abundant in some portions of the West and 
South-west, and large numbers are killed annually by In- 
dians, market and pot-hunters, and sportsmen. These are 
stalked, hunted with hounds, or shot from stages erected 
near the trails they make during their migrations from one 
section of the country to another. Some naturalists con- 
sider this and the white -tail to be the same species, the 
difference between them not being sufficient to entitle them 
to particular distinction; hence the latter is considered to 
be only a variety of the former, if it is not the same animal 
changed a little by climate and the character of country 
it frequents. The difference is so slight, certainly, that it 



336 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

would be best to keep them in the same species, for zoolo- 
gy is already rendered too cumbersome by elevating varie- 
ties into the dignity of species; and this causes a confusion 
which it would seem well to avoid. 

The antlers of both animals are almost alike in form, and 
in the number of prongs or points they display. When 
these are shed the stags retire from the herds and seek the 
closest thickets, venturing abroad in search of food only at 
night ; yet in regions where they are little hunted they 
may be seen browsing during the day. They are very 
active on moonlight nights in summer, and one may then 
kill them without much trouble if he will only work cau- 
tiously, and move to the windward ; and if on elevated 
ground, he should in all cases work down, not up, as the 
animals seem somewhat afraid of open ground and the 
regions below. 

The best time for stalking them is in the morning or 
evening, as they are out feeding at those times. They may 
be found on the sunny side of a hill in the morning, and 
near water in the evening, as they then go to drink enough 
to last them for the night. In an open and level country 
they conceal themselves in the coppices skirting streams 
or lakes during the day, and remain there until near sun- 
set, when they move out to allay their thirst and hunger. 
When started by hounds, they head for the water at once, 
by following a well-known and well-worn run-way; and if 
a hunter is posted there he may tumble one over easily 
with his double-barrel gun loaded with buckshot. 

Another variety of this animal, and probably the small- 
est of its family in the United States, is found in Arizona. 
This is designated as C. virginianus, variety Conesii, in 
honor of Dr. Cones, of the Smithsonian Institution at 
Washington. It is a dwarf compared to the others, for 
the bucks seldom weigh over seventy pounds, while the 
docs range between forty and sixty pounds. It has small 
ears ; the hoofs and false hoofs are black ; the tail has a 
total length, hair at tip included, of eight inches ; the 
largest antler is about seven inches long; and the general 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 337 

color of the body is a pale fawn. It is light and graceful 
in movement, and rather proud in aspect when gazing at 
an object. 

It is very abundant in Southern Arizona, where it fre- 
quents the coniferous forests of the mountains. The bucks 
often wander as high as three or four thousand feet, as 
they obtain plenty of food at that altitude in the bunch- 
grass and tender shrubbery. The does keep to the thick- 
ets while their young are with them, but during the run- 
ning season they scamper about in every direction. These 
dwarfs are so little hunted, and so numerous, that they 
show no fear of man unless they scent him to the wind- 
ward; hence they may be approached to within fifty or 
sixty yards, and a group shot down, before they become 
alarmed enough to flee. 

As they feed abroad during the daytime, owing to their 
immunity from foes, they may be readily found at all 
times; and this gives the hunter an opportunity of making 
a larger bag than he could probably boast of in any other 
part of the world. 

By summarizing the various species of the deer family 
found in the West and South-west, we find, excluding the 
caribou, which rarely comes south of the fifty-fourth paral- 
lel, that there are five distinct species, and five varieties, al- 
lowing that the white-tail is a variety of the Virginia deer. 
The species are the moose, wapiti, mule deei*, black-tail, and 
Virginia deer; and the varieties are the burro, or jackass 
deer, of California, the dwarf deer of Sonora and Arizona, 
the white-tail, and the spotted and the white deer. It is ev- 
ident, therefore, that the Cervidw are well represented in 
the country ; and as for numbers, they cannot be equalled 
in any portion of the continent. 

The methods employed in the West for hunting deer are 
confined to three; and these are stalking, driving, and still- 
hunting at night with a lamp or a torch. The two first are 
considered legitimate sport; but the latter is tabooed by 
all true lovers of the gun, as it does not give the animals 
any chance for their life, and they are shot as easily as a 

15 



338 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAB WEST. 

cow tied up in a barn. When the poor creatures see the 
light they stare at it in stupid amazement, if the person 
carrying it is to the leeward, and keep staring until a bul- 
let, fired at a distance of a few feet or yards, goes crash- 
ing through their brains. This is, literally speaking, cold- 
blooded assassination, and is only fit for hungry men or 
starving Indians : it is certainly unworthy of sportsmen ; 
yet I am sorry to say that many persons Avho call them- 
selves by that name resort to it, and actually boast of the 
number they have slain in a night. 

I heard of a band of Indians in Washington Territory 
who killed forty in one night by using torches of pines, and 
I knew two market hunters who said they had averaged 
eight a night for several nights in succession. The deer 
were of course very abundant, to permit such slaughter; 
but as they are considered too numerous to be agreeable 
in some of the wooded portions of that country, no persons 
objected to this seemingly wanton destruction. 

In still-hunting, patience and perseverance are two essen- 
tial qualities to insure success. It is tedious work, though, 
and one which galls on a restless, sanguine nature. Prac- 
tice dispels the ennui, however, and the most impulsive 
person may become the most skilful hunter after awhile. 
One thing every person ought to practice, and that is, to 
keep the eyes on the alert, and to step high when walking, 
so that the foot, when it comes to the earth, should not 
make much noise, and that the ball might touch it first. 

Novices, as a rule, walk too rapidly, cover too much 
ground, and use their legs instead of their eyes; so the 
result is too often a failure, and they return home compar- 
atively dispirited. Experience corrects such mistakes ; and 
they soon learn that the less they walk in a country where 
deer abound the more successful they will be. The stalker 
would find a deer-hound of great use in the forests of the 
West to bring wounded animals to bay ; otherwise he is 
liable to lose several, or to tramp after them for miles when 
he is so weary that he can hardly move. If ever there was 
a country where that noble animal would be of use, it is 



THE BLACK- TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 339 

out there ; in fact his services would be invaluable to those 
who hunt much, and nearly everybody there seems addicted 
to the sport. 

Stalkers should also remember that, when a deer is star- 
tled from its retreat, it bounds away as silently and rapidly 
as possible, keeping the head very low, as if it tfould utilize 
the undergrowth to protect it from being seen by the hunt- 
er ; hence his gaze should be directed some distance in ad- 
vance, and he should turn the head from side to side slow- 
ly, so as to sweep the ground in front of him. He should 
also scan the ground for signs, and note where the grass 
or leaves are trampled, or the dew brushed away from the 
shrubbery. If his dress is of a neutral tint, and he walks 
slowly, he may approach a deer to close range from the lee- 
ward, as its sight is somewhat defective, and it seems to 
recognize objects only when they are in motion. 

It may be stalked to good advantage on moonlight 
nights, as it is then out grazing; but one may be sure that 
he will not see many during the day after such expeditions, 
as they keep concealed in the densest thickets. 

Driving deer is a favorite sport with those who have 
good horses. This is a very sociable affair, and is partici- 
pated in by, probably, all the farmers in a neighborhood. 
After the meet they take their dogs into a piece of woods 
which the deer are known to frequent, and the pack is 
left there under the care of an improvised huntsman who 
knows where to look for the game, while the company seek 
the run-ways, and wait until the canine chorus announces 
that the quarry is afoot. Those whose steeds will stand 
fire remain in their saddles; but those whose animals are 
not so well trained, dismount, and tie them to trees, while 
they keep watch on foot. The former have the best 
chances of getting a shot, as they can dash about and head 
off the game sometimes ; whereas the latter have to de- 
pend on its passing their stand, with the probabilities 
strongly against them, too often, owing to the number of 
mounted men present. 

When the deer is started, if a black -tail, it heads for 



340 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

the hills, generally keeping to the roughest and stoniest 
ground, and following the course of ravines as much as 
possible; it does not dash boldly upward, however, but 
swings around the hill, generally moving from right to 
left, and doubling when necessary, and, if hard pressed, it 
makes for* some convenient river or lake. Then it is that 
the hunters have an opportunity of firing at it ; and, if they 
are at all expert with the shot-gun, they may tumble it over 
with a dozen buckshot as it flees past them, or they may 
cause it to halt by a whistle, and kill it while it is trying 
to analyze the import of the strange sound. If it reaches 
open ground, some persons pursue it on horseback ; and if 
their steeds have any speed worth mentioning they are sure 
to get within shooting range of it, for a deer is by no means 
the ideal of swiftness which it is often assumed to be. 
Even when fresh, a good horse will push it hard on fair 
running ground ; but in a rugged country it has all the ad- 
vantages in its favor, as it seems to run as well on one kind 
as on the other. 

"When the quarry is killed, a joyous shout or a blast on 
the mellow horn announces the event, and dogs and men 
assemble to gaze on the trophy. The successful Nimrod 
is congratulated ; a dose of something stronger than tea is 
generally partaken of in honor of the event ; and the pack 
is sent out to make another cast, when the same hurrying 
and scurrying to and fro is indulged in until the quarry is 
either slain or escapes to the water. If it takes to a river, 
it floats down with the current for a short distance, and 
scrambles out on the opposite bank; but if it has been 
driven hard, it frequently stays in the water under the 
shelter of friendly branches, even if the hounds are giving 
tongue within a few feet of it. Its head is all that is visi- 
ble on such occasions ; so he who would detect its hiding- 
place must carefully scan the water. If the wind is blow- 
ing from its direction, experienced hounds will follow it in 
the river almost as well as they would on land, and they 
frequently kill it there. On such occasions the stags fight 
bravely for their lives, and often kill some of their assail- 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 341 

ants, and escape ; but when they are overpowered by num- 
bers they soon become exhausted, and are killed, or drag- 
ged helplessly ashore by the hunters, when they are fin- 
ished at once. 

The favorite method of hunting the antlered beauty in 
the North-west is to organize a party, and take tents, cook- 
ing utensils, commissary supplies, and teams into the for- 
est, and encamp there for a week or two, changing quarters 
according as the deer are hunted out of a district by the 
dogs. It is not often necessary to change camp, however, 
for the animals expelled from a region one day may return 
to it the next, if they have not been alarmed in the inter- 
val ; hence, as long as they are not all killed off, persons 
may find good sport in any place they are known to fre- 
quent if they get a rest for a short time. 

Five of us bagged forty deer in less than four days in a 
section of Southern Oregon, although there were several 
hunters and their packs in the field at the time, and eight 
of us killed sixty in a week in Western Washington. 

I have sometimes shot two and three in a day in Idaho, 
Wyoming, Montana, and other fresh fields, although the 
pursuing pack seldom consisted of more than two or three 
couples of slow hounds. As a specimen of what deer-hunt- 
ing in the forest is, I may cite two hunts which came off in 
the North-west, as they will be sufficient to show the ex- 
citement of the sport, the manner in which the deer run, 
and the jolly life one can lead in the woods away from all 
the trammels of society and civilization. 

I was at one time visiting an army post, and, while there, 
the officers decided to go on a deer-hunt — a proposition 
with which I felt much pleased, as I had not used rifle or 
shot-gun for six months, and I longed to roam in the 
woods once more. 

After spending the night among congenial companions, 
whose hospitality is proverbial, I retired to the simple 
couch in use among bachelor officers, and slept soundly 
until the boom of the cannon aroused me in the morning. 
A hasty breakfast was soon despatched, and we were ready 



342 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

for the sport which promised so much buoyant, virile pleas- 
ure. Our party was composed of five persons, including 
an orderly, who had charge of half a dozen hounds, and a 
French half-breed, who acted as guide. In the course of 
half an hour after leaving camp we were in the midst of 
a dense forest of those gigantic firs for which the North- 
west is famous, and a few moments later the dogs were set 
to work on a fresh trail. They soon gave tongue, and their 
melodious tones rang through the silent woods with a clear- 
ness I had never before heard equalled. This was the sig- 
nal for a scurrying race to get to some convenient points 
in order to have a shot. The guide placed me on a prom- 
ising run-way, and I had scarcely taken my position ere a 
magnificent black-tailed stag (C. columbianus) broke cover 
not twenty paces from me. His head was high in the air, 
and his antlers were thrown back, so that he appeared in his 
most majestic mien. I gave him a low whistle; he halted 
to learn its import, and ere he could decide upon moving 
I planted a load of buckshot in his neck and shoulders. 
Before I could give him the second barrel he was bound- 
ing through the shrubbery with those long, high jumps for 
which he is noted, and the last I saw of him was an erect 
cauda clearing the branches of a fallen tree. I was of 
course much piqued at my bad shooting, and still more so 
when I was rejoined by my companions, who commenced 
chaffing me most unmercifully, and predicted that we should 
have no luck that day, as I had missed the first deer. The 
feeling of chagrin was bad enough ; but to be taunted 
good-naturedly with spoiling the day's amusement was the 
acme of depressing pride. I insisted that I had wounded 
the animal so seriously that it could not run very far ; but 
this only elicited a sarcastic laugh, and the query if I did 
not think I ought to challenge certain redoubted hunters 
to engage in a week's contest to test superiority. My vic- 
tory soon came, however; for the guide, who was sound- 
ing a mellow cow's horn to recall the pack, reported that 
they must have overtaken the quarry, or they would have 
returned in answer to his peremptory summons. This in- 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 343 

duced two of us to follow the trail, which we did quite 
readily by noting the condition of the fallen leaves; and 
we had not proceeded half a mile ere we came to a brook, 
and on its bank we found the animal lifeless as a stone, 
and the hounds grouped about it. A joyous halloo from 
our party soon brought the others, and I was the recipient 
of theatrical congratulations, which were given demonstra- 
tively, as an antidote to the previous wounds. We dressed 
the stag in a few moments, gave the entrails to the hounds, 
placed the carcass on the limb of a tree, and then resumed 
our sport. 

The dogs were next sent into a dense fern -brake that 
reached nearly to our necks. They were there about a 
minute, when a simultaneous cry from all startled us, and, 
ere we could recover our wits, two does of the white-tailed 
deer species (C leucurus) bounded into our midst with 
such suddenness that before any one thought of shooting 
them they were twenty yards away. It was then too late, 
as the shrubbery was so dense that no shot could penetrate 
it, except by mere accident; and as each person seemed 
anxious to have some excuse, we contented ourselves by 
expressing our surprise at the unexpected appearance of 
such visitors. 

"We can get them yet, sir," said the half-breed, "for 
they are white-tailed deer ; and after running a short time 
they will make for the river, and we can get there before 
them." 

To the river we accordingly ran at our best speed ; but 
that was slow enough, owing to the quantity of fallen tim- 
ber that strewed the ground, and the tropical luxuriance 
of the salmon and whortleberries which were entwined to- 
gether in thick, tangled masses. We were there, however, 
and had taken up our posts, before the musical chorus of 
the pack began to approach us. Every eye then peered 
vigilantly into the gloomy, silent woods, as if they would 
penetrate the leafy coverts, and all assumed an air that indi- 
cated a thorough determination not to be caught napping 
again. The cry now became loud and clamorous, and so 



344 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FIR WEST. 

close, that every weapon was held near the shoulder. Bang 
went a gun in the glades, and bang went another to my 
right. These were followed by a joyous " hoopee," which 
indicated that the Nimrods were successful. On arriving 
on the ground, we found both animals dead, and their slay- 
ers proudly gazing upon them. Congratulations of all 
grades, from the cynical to the serio-comic and tragical, 
were bestowed on them, and these they received as a mat- 
ter of course, and in a modestly becoming manner. One 
curious incident about the run was that both animals kept 
together from the start, for nothing of the sort had ever 
before come under the notice of our experienced guide. 
The only way in which he could account for it was that 
they were pressed so closely by the hounds, which were 
famous for their fleetness, that their wits were scattered, 
and they were therefore unable to employ their usual strat- 
agems. They were, besides, rather young ; so that their 
inexperience, as much as any other circumstance, was the 
means of leading them to death. One fact in connection 
with the running of the two species of deer, common in 
Western Oregon and Washington Territory, is that the 
black-tail heads for the hills and ravines the moment it is 
started, and makes for the water only when all other strata- 
gems have failed ; while the white-tail prefers to run on the 
lowlands and in the forest, and resorts to a brook or river 
as soon as it can get the opportunity. Hunters avail them- 
selves of these characteristics, and act accordingly ; and 
so quick are they in detecting which species is started, that 
the pack will not be in motion perhaps five minutes ere they 
hie either to the hills or the stream. The white-tailed deer 
also runs in a more direct line than its congener, as if it 
would outstrip the clogs by its fleetness; but the other 
doubles like a hare, and chooses the most rocky and diffi- 
cult ground, as if it knew that the scent would be lost more 
readily in such places, and that its means of escape would 
therefore be better. The former has also the greater speed, 
but lacks the endurance of the black-tail, which is a splen- 
did type of cervideau strength and power, and, in my opin- 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEEIi. 345 

ion, one of the best of its family for giving the dogs a run 
that will test their pace and staying power. 

Having cleansed the last animals, we suspended them 
from trees and left that section, as we presumed that the 
dogs had scared away all the deer in the immediate vicin- 
ity. We had not proceeded half a mile, however, before a 
fine buck leaped out of a glade in front of us, but the guide 
brought him down before he had gone thirty paces. A lit- 
tle farther, and another full-grown stag bounded from his 
foliaceous retreat and dashed away, with the hounds in full 
cry behind him. 

" No use running after him," said the guide ; " he'll go 
for the hills ; so we had better wait here until the dogs 
lose him, and then go for another." 

We sat down accordingly, like men who were powerless, 
and devoted half an hour of our time to discussing the 
points of each dog, according as we distinguished its rich 
notes echoing through the soughing forest, and the merits 
of cigars that would not burn. In a short time we heard 
new canine Richmonds in the field, and, as they were ap- 
proaching us, we jumped to our feet and eagerly ran for 
cover, for we expected the quarry at any moment. We 
waited about five minutes, when a buck dashed past ; but 
ere he could disappear, four barrels had sent their contents 
into his palpitating sides, and he fell, crying piteously. Be- 
fore we could reach him the hounds had throttled him, and 
were fighting for a mouthful of his tender flesh. We soon 
appeased their hunger, however, by giving them the en- 
trails, and they threw their wearied bodies on the ground 
beside their prey, while we prepared it for transportation. 

As the day was declining, we concluded to return home ; 
for we were well content with our day's amusement, which 
enabled us to enjoy some fine runs, and at the same time 
to reap the reward of vigilance. As soon as our own dogs 
were assembled, we hired a farmer's wagon to take the 
trophies to town ; and in the evening, over a dish of savory 
venison, washed down with some Veuve Clicquot, we dis- 
cussed the events of the day, and bi'ought from the per- 

15* 



346 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

speetive of memory recollections of former hunts which 
had long laid dormant. 

I spent a fortnight at one time in the forests with a 
party of genuine hunters, and jovial, hospitable fellows, 
and never, to me, did two weeks pass more rapidly and 
pleasantly. Each man furnished his own bedclothes and 
a proportionate share of the food, but a large tent sufficed 
to hold all ; and though our bed was lowly, and composed 
solely of straw, no king on his couch of state ever slept 
more soundly or contentedly than we did. We had three 
wagons with us, and one of these contained a generous 
supply of fodder for the horses, so that we should not be 
compelled to employ any person to herd them during the 
day. 

After marching fifteen or twenty miles into the forest, 
we reached a low chain of hills which had an altitude of 
four or five hundred feet, and on the summit of one of 
these we pitched our camp, under the shade of an old and 
wide-spreading fir, and close to an abundance of water; for 
a beautiful tarn and a crystalline river were only a few 
paces from us. When the tent was erected, each man de- 
voted himself to some special object; thus, while one cut 
up wood, another brought it in ; some laid in a supply of 
water, and others attended to preparing the dinner ; while 
still another party went after grouse in the woods, or to 
catch trout in the lake, and these soon returned with more 
than enough to last for twenty-four hours. I was among 
the anglers, and was fortunate enough to catch two dozen 
splendid fish, that averaged about four pounds each, in less 
than three hours, with no better bait than a grasshopper. 

Our dinner-party that evening was a merry one, although 
our repast was anything but epicurean in character, as it 
consisted of cold beef, fried bacon, grouse, fish, potatoes, 
and bread and butter, and these were eaten off tin plates. 
Our dessei't was confined to rosy apples and a cup of cof- 
fee, and after that came the rude loving-cup, composed of 
punch that was hot, strong, and sweet. When this was 
finished, we devoted ourselves to puffing pipes or cigars 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 347 

and relating hunting reminiscences, until we retired to our 
pallet of straw, where each man rolled himself up in his 
blanket. The pillows were not very soft, as they were 
composed of our boots overlaid with coats, waistcoats, and 
other articles of attire. If not downy they were not very 
uncomfortable, and were appreciated accordingly. 

We were awake by three o'clock; and after partaking of 
a hearty breakfast — a feat which was rendered possible by 
the glare of the fire — we started off in a body toward the 
lake, while a half-breed took the hounds to the left, so as 
to run the deer down toward a large stream that brawled 
through the woods half a mile below. He had not pro- 
ceeded twenty yards from camp before the pack started a 
splendid stag, which came bounding toward us as if he had 
no fear of man ; and before he could detect our dangerous 
character the contents of two shot-guns were planted in his 
sides, and he fell headlong on his antlers. " Goodduck for 
this day, anyhow," yelled the enthusiast of the party; and, 
to see that his prophecy was carried out, he commenced a 
series of mock incantations and an Indian dance about the 
slain, and wound up with a loud and piercing yell that 
would have done credit to a Sioux brave in a charge. His 
ludicrous antics elicited roars of laughter from the specta- 
tors; and several were shaking so violently from their cach- 
innatory exercise that they could not shoot a buck ten 
paces away at the time. 

After the ceremony of a mock baptism of the stag, and 
feeding the hungry hounds with the viscera, we started to- 
ward the river, as run-ways were exceedingly numerous, 
and all showed that the deer had used them the previous 
night, judging by the freshness and direction of the slots. 
Long before we had taken our stations, which were several 
yards apart, the musical chorus of the hounds was heard 
amidst the forest depths, now here, now there, until it finally 
burst into a full and thrilling cry, which the trees and rocks 
and hills, and even the lowliest shrub, seemed to take up, 
and to echo and re-echo in such stentorian tones that the 
whole country in front appeared to be occupied by en- 



348 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

chanted packs numbering many thousands. The dogs 
coursed about the hills for some time, until the quarry be- 
came weary, when it headed for the river. This brought 
the pack toward us ; but we could not tell in what particu- 
lar direction it was running, owing to the sonorous echoes 
that resounded from every quarter. 

While anxiously waiting on a well-worn run-way, I es- 
pied a splendid doe come bounding through the forest. I 
intended at first to fire at her before she got too near, but 
I thought my chances would be better if I allowed her to 
come so close that I could get a shot at her sides ; and act- 
ing impulsively on this idea, I reserved my fire until she 
came within a few paces of me on my left. I then pulled 
the trigger, but before the shot reached her she was a stride 
away, and when I turned round to give her the second bar- 
rel, she was screened by a net -work of fallen trees and 
bushes, which she had cleared with a tremendous bound. 
I was so incensed at myself for missing such an easy shot 
that I was fairly crestfallen ; but before I had much time to 
think over my chagrin, a report to the right attracted my 
attention, and this was soon followed by a joyous shout 
— a proof that somebody had been more successful than 
myself. 

As the baying of the pack still sounded in the distance, 
instead of answering the summons for aid, I concluded I 
had better keep my post, in hopes of being able to retrieve 
my lost luck. I waited an hour in vain ; and though the 
time seemed long, yet I was not uneasy, for newts and sala- 
manders crossed the trail with their slow pace, the little 
pewee intoned its soft, musical notes amidst the towering 
firs, woodpeckers drummed on the trees in every direction, 
and coveys of grouse went whirring by in a state of great 
alarm, while numerous small birds whistled and chirped or 
sang in the heavy shrubbery. The for'est was sometimes 
as silent and gloomy as it could well be, and the only 
sound that disturbed its brooding stillness was the occa- 
sional echoing melody of the dogs, which sounded afar off, 
and was wafted toward me by tree and zephyr. 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 349 

While sitting listlessly on a fallen fir, and paying much 
more attention, even though it was mechanical, to the 
sights and sounds about me than to the purpose for which 
I was there, I heard a tremendous crashing in the shrub- 
bery a short distance to my left. This caused me to jump 
promptly to my feet, and to grasp the gun firmly in my 
hands, and when I saw the bushes swaying I put it near 
my shoulder, ready to fire at once. When the undergrowth 
parted, however, instead of seeing a deer emerge, out bolt- 
ed the French half-breed who acted as guide, in a state of 
trepidation. On seeing me he rushed forward impetuous- 
ly, and said that he had been pursued by a cougar for a 
short distance, and that he had met a bear so suddenly 
that it had scared all his wits away. I asked him what 
brought him from that direction, and he replied that the 
hills were full of deer, that the dogs had divided on a dozen 
or more of them, and that they were now making for the 
river. After telling me to keep my stand, and not to leave 
it on any account, he dashed away through the woods, in- 
tending to take up a position on my run-way near the riv- 
er. He had scarcely been gone ten minutes before a full- 
grown stag bounded out of the very track he had been fol- 
lowing ; but before the noble-looking creature could cross 
the road I shot him dead. Hearing another crashing to 
my right, I looked in that direction, and saw a doe leap 
clear across the track; but before she could disappear I 
gave her the contents of the second barrel. I knew I had 
hit her, yet she did not fall; so after her I went at my 
best pace, now clambering over fallen trees, anon stum- 
bling through matted shrubbery, or tearing, with eyes half 
closed, through dense fern -brakes. I travelled in this 
manner for two miles as rapidly as I could, the only halt 
I made being a short one to load my gun, and finally 
emerged on a splendid wild meadow that skirted the 
stream. While heedlessly passing over this, for I saw no 
deer tracks, the doe I had wounded started up about twen- 
ty yards to my right; but before she could get as many 
feet away I planted a load of buckshot in her heart, and 



350 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

she toppled over after running a short distance. I gral- 
loched her there and then, and started off toward my old 
stand ; but, as I could hear firing in every direction, I de- 
cided to halt to learn its import. Shots were heard deto- 
nating through the forest for several seconds, like explo- 
sions of fire-crackers, and, as soon as they ceased, the long 
mellow tones of three or four cow's horns, which are there 
used for hunting-horns, were heard ringing through the 
woodlands, as a signal for an assembly. 

Before I started to answer the summons, the half-breed 
was at my side, and so noiseless was his approach that I 
did not know he was near me until he spoke. He, the best 
hunter of the party, had killed nothing, owing to his de- 
sire to do too much, and deserting his stand ; so he helped 
me to carry the doe to where the other victim lay, and we 
placed both together. The guide then sounded his horn; 
and as his blast was well known, and it was supposed he 
had some new project in view, the party began to strag- 
gle in from every direction, some emerging suddenly from 
the undergrowth, while others strolled down the run-ways. 
When all were assembled I learned that twelve deer had 
been killed inside of three hours, and that the hounds must 
have driven twenty more at least toward the river, judging 
from the number that passed on either side of the men on 
the stands. 

Knowing from this that the animals were very abundant, 
we concluded to hunt that section all day, and to place 
some of the party on the run-ways that led up toward the 
hills. All the slain were then collected together and placed 
under the care of the oldest member of the company, who 
found the exercise of the morning too severe for even his 
hardy frame, as he had been compelled to run a good deal. 
While moving toward the hills the hounds started two 
deer; but instead of running upward they broke for the 
river at once, and the dogs soon lost them there, at least we 
presumed they did ; but the guide attributed the cause of 
their speedy return to the fact that they had been fed too 
much on the viscera of those captured, and they therefore 



THE BLACK-TAILED AXE VIRGINIA DEER. 351 

did not feel much in the mood for running. On resuming 
our march, two fawns were started, and the hounds went in 
full cry after one; but the second, having scented us, dash- 
ed for a fern-brake close by and concealed itself there. We 
beat it up in a short time, however, and it was tumbled 
over by one of the party with his first barrel. 

The dogs having run their quarry to water, rejoined us, 
and they were given over to another huntsman, who was 
requested to go as high up on the wooded hills as he could 
and beat downward, so that the deer might be driven to 
the river at once ; and as soon as he started for his desti- 
nation the party deployed in various directions, and each 
took position on a promising run-way. 

We had scarcely taken our stands, however, before the 
rain began to pour down in torrents; and this necessi- 
tated our taking shelter under some of the huge firs whose 
soughing tones and gloomy hues accorded so well with 
the bluish -black rain and heavy, murky sky. All living 
objects in nature seemed hushed into silence except the 
trees ; for even the chattering squirrels sought their cosy 
retreats, and remained there in mute repose. I waited an 
hour or more in my shelter without hearing any sound 
save the melancholy sighing of the acerose foliage and 
the loud patter of the downpour, and was becoming moody 
myself out of sympathy with the gloom that reigned all 
round, when I was fairly startled into an excited condition 
by hearing a loud snort or whistle a few feet away. On 
looking for its cause, I noticed a proud black-tail stag gaz- 
ing intently at me with the greatest curiosity, and expand- 
ing his wide nostrils as if trying to judge by those sensitive 
organs to what species of the animal world I belonged, 
and whether I was friend or foe. I permitted him to 
stare for a few moments, then brought the gun to my 
shoulder; but I had scarcely moved my arm before he was 
off. I fired at him as he was disappearing in the under- 
growth, giving him both barrels in rapid succession ; and 
when I went to seek him, I found him lying dead within 
one or two hundred yards of where he had vanished from 



352 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 






sight. He was hit with only one buckshot; but that reach- 
ed a vulnerable part, the end of the spinal column. He 
would have fallen at once, in all probability, were it not 
for the pace at which he was running, and that momentum 
carried him to where he fell. I gralloched him in a few 
seconds, and dragged him after me to my original stand, 
where I resumed my weary sentinel duty. 

After being there half an hour longer, I heard the stir- 
ring cry of the hounds far in the distance ; and this pro- 
duced a most welcome feeling of animation, for I knew by 
the clamor that the game was afoot. The chorus sound- 
ed exceedingly musical; for the echoing hills and forests 
modulated every tone to a soft, silveiy strain, and wafted 
it in so many directions that phantom canine voices seem- 
ed to issue from every tree, shrub, and rock. The cries 
were heard all over the hills, apparently far away; but 
they soon began to approach, and I became on the alert 
immediately. In what seemed to be only a period of ten 
minutes, the chorus swelled into a grand volume that 
echoed through the forest from end to end, as if hundreds 
of dogs were giving tongue at the same moment. Onward 
it rolled like the peals of some organ in a massive cathe- 
dral; now far, now near; now here, now there. While 
listening to it in the most interested and anxious manner, 
I was surprised to hear it cease suddenly, and was wonder- 
ing what could have caused it, when the detonations of sev- 
eral rifles and shot-guns, which came crackling through the 
forest, gave me the explanation. A few moments later, and 
the hounds emerged on my run -way, weary and bedrag- 
gled ; and I could see by this that they must have chased 
more than one deer during their long absence. 

Several of them were missing ; and thinking they would 
soon come up, I waited half an hour or more for them, not- 
withstanding the many horn-blasts that came echoing to- 
ward me, as a signal for a rally. Finding there was no im- 
mediate prospect that they would appear, I started to re- 
join my comrades ; but I had not proceeded half a mile be- 
fore a full-grown doe started out of a clump of hazel and 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 353 

dog-wood bushes not ten yards in front of me. She made 
for the river at once, with the hounds in full cry behind 
her; and I started after them, taking every advantage of 
crosscuts to try and head her off. When I reached the 
stream I could hear the hounds baying a short distance be- 
low, and, on drawing near, I saw them grouped around the 
quarry in the watei*, and worrying her. Having a forty- 
one calibre pocket revolver in my belt, I put it in my 
mouth, undressed myself, and swam toward the growling 
hounds, which were fastened to the poor bleating creature 
in every available part; and, placing my weapon near her 
ear, I killed her with the first shot. With the aid of the 
dogs, which still held on to her, I pushed her ashore with 
one hand, while I used the other for swimming ; and on 
landing, I dressed in a hurry and ran as fast as I could for 
several hundred yards in order to warm myself and take 
away the chill, for the water was very cold. I left the ani- 
mal where it lay on the bank, and started to join the re- 
mainder of the party; and these I soon found, as they were 
following the cries of the dogs, not so much in hopes of 
getting a shot at a deer as to keep the choristers from 
straying too far. With their aid the doe was taken back 
to where the buck was lying, and the two were carried to 
a central position, where others were placed with them. I 
then learned that the cause of the sudden silence of the 
dogs was due to the death of the animal they were pursu- 
ing, and that four others had been started out of a fern- 
brake, and all killed. 

As we had had plenty sport for the day, having bagged 
fourteen deer, we returned to camp ; and while some at- 
tended to cooking dinner, others took two wagons to bring 
in the slain. We feasted that evening on venison, fresh 
trout, grouse, and our own edibles ; but the chief dish was 
a stag's head roasted whole in the ashes. 

Notwithstanding our hard day's work, all were in excel- 
lent condition ; and as soon as the punch was finished, the 
enthusiast of the company took a large accordion out of a 
box, and began to play all the jigs and reels he knew with 



354 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

such spirit that he made some of the more impulsive jump 
from their outstretched position before the fire, and go 
tripping the light fantastic toe for dear life, amidst the 
numerous branchlets and leaves that strewed the ground. 
They went bounding about like rubber-balls or Terpsicho- 
reans at a country fair, and yelled and swung each other 
about, in their joyous excitement and enthusiasm. It was 
certainly a scene of good-natured jollity, and one could 
readily understand from it how Robin Hood's merry men 
could make life tolerable amidst the depths of Sherwood 
Forest. The music was followed by singing, and this was 
kept up so long that it was past midnight before we re- 
tired to rest. 

We were awake before daylight the next morning, and 
had breakfast finished by five o'clock, when we resumed 
our day's sport as fresh as if we had not been out of camp 
for a week. We found the deer as numerous as they were 
the previous day, by going two miles farther on, and scored 
many a kill ; but the number bagged was only a fraction of 
what escaped to the hills or sought safety in the river. 

We had magnificent weather — some splendid runs; and 
mingled with the soul-stirring music of the hounds were 
the songs of birds, the screams of the wild-cat and puma, 
the growl of the bear, the lively chatter of squirrels, the 
startled whistling of the deer, and the gentle monotone of 
the soughing trees, as their tops and leaves swung to and 
fro in response to the cooling zephyrs. The forest was full 
of life and animation, and its varied sounds made one for- 
get that there was such a thing in existence as trouble and 
tribulation. 

The whole day long was one scene of good-luck in hunt- 
ing; hence, when the party returned to camp at night, 
nearly everybody was in the best of humor. Two incidents 
occurred during the day, however, to prove that there is no 
bliss without alloy, no success without its consequence; no 
rose without a thorn ; nothing, in fact, whether for good or 
evil, that does not seem to have its correspondence on the 
opposite side, to either check or alleviate its full signifi- 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 355 

cance. The first was, that one of the most coui-ageous and 
experienced of the party wounded a stag so severely that 
he was overtaken by the hounds in a short time, and forced 
to fight bravely for life for fifteen minutes or more. While 
engaged in a contest with his canine foes, the hunter ap- 
proached to give him a finishing shot; but he broke away 
from the dogs so suddenly, and charged his human adver- 
sary so vigorously, that the latter was taken by surprise, 
and before he knew what to do he was knocked down and 
seriously injured in the chest and abdomen by the antlers 
of the infuriated beast. Fortunately for him, succor ar- 
rived promptly, and he and his assailant were taken to 
camp together. This is no uncommon thing for stags to 
do; hence persons should be cautious in approaching them 
when they are wounded. The hunter was sent home to 
receive medical assistance, and was soon himself again. 

An incident which occurred to myself the same day is 
one I shall not readily forget, as it taught me a useful les- 
son. Having heard what I supposed to be hounds belong- 
ing to some other hunters a short distance away from my 
post, I started toward them in hopes I should get a shot at 
the quarry ; but, after travelling two miles or more through 
the dense forest, I could see nothing of them, though their 
voices were audible among the hills. As the evening was 
getting late, I decided to go no farther, so I returned to- 
ward where I supposed the camp stood. I wandered about 
until dusk in various directions, but I could find no traces of 
it, nor could I see any footsteps of men or dogs — a proof 
positive that they had not been in that direction. Feeling 
that I was lost, I commenced an examination of the branch- 
es of the trees to see on which side they were longest, and 
where the moss grew; but as I had not taken any notice 
of the situation of the camp, my knowledge of woodcraft 
was of little use. I then climbed a tree to note the appear- 
ance of smoke anywhere, but the lateness of the evening 
prevented me from seeing it. Not knowing what else to 
do, I commenced blowing the cow's horn which I carried 
slung over my shoulder, and kept it up until my lips were 



356 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

sore. I was moving all the time, but I did not know where 
I was going, for I sometimes found myself back at a point 
from which I had started half an hour before. I finally 
reached the bank of a precipice, through which a turbulent 
stream loudly brawled, and there I heard the welcome 
notes of an answering horn seemingly to my left. This 
joyous sound nerved me amazingly, and gave me the 
strength of a giant, apparently, for I blew a blast that 
caused the forest and chasm to resound with it for miles. 
I then stumbled through the canyon, crossed the stream in 
some manner that I cannot now recall, for it was deep and 
swift in places, and, emerging on the other side, I com- \ 
menced running at my best speed, halting only long enough 
to give a loud halloo or to sound the horn. I received an- | 
swering shouts and blasts at intervals, but they sometimes 
sounded afar off, and at other times very near. After trav- 
elling for an hour I reached a morass, and a small, deep 
stream ; and these I crossed on fallen slippery trees with a 
dexterity I could not again equal. 

While passing through a part of the forest so deep and 
gloomy that even the stars were not visible, owing to the 
density of the shrubbery, I started a bear from its lair, and 
it went growling and tearing through the bushes ahead of 
me. Nervous and excited as I was, I could notice every- 
thing passing about me in the keenest manner possible. 
The weird hoot of the owl, the whistle of the startled deer, 
the howl of the wolf, and the loud whirr of alarmed coveys 
of grouse impressed me at once; and, though uneasy in 
mind, through fear of getting lost in the untrodden forest, 
yet I felt a sort of pleasure in the dark and strange scenes, 
and the wild animals that surrounded me. 

Another hour's travelling led me through three chasms, 
and these I crossed in hot haste ; but finding I was getting 
no nearer the answering shouts and horn -blasts, I com- 
menced firing my shot-gun. This was responded to by a 
rattling volley, and then for the first time did I get the 
true bearings of the sounds of succor. I hastened rapidly 
toward them, firing as I advanced, to show my position, 






THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 357 

and finally came to a steep cliff, up which I clambered with 
the nimbleness of a goat. When I reached the summit, I 
heard human voices approaching me, and, a few moments 
later, I was amidst five of my companions who were out 
searching for me. I learned from them that I had been 
travelling in a circle, and that instead of crossing four or 
five chasms and two streams, as I supposed, I had only 
crossed one, my movements having led me to the same 
chasm and stream every time. 

This chasm had taken up the shouts and the blasts of 
the horns, and echoed them in so many directions that I 
was deceived, and led hither and thither, and forced into 
a veritable will-o'-the-wisp chase for which there was no 
necessity. The sharp detonations of the shot-gun not 
being so well adapted to produce an echo as the other 
sounds, I was enabled to hear them distinctly in the direc- 
tion from which they issued; and were it not for these, I 
would undoubtedly have been compelled to sleep that night 
without shelter in the damp forest. I have slept there 
alone since then, but under different circumstances, and 
after experience had taught me what to do; hence I felt 
no alarm about my safety. 

When we reached camp, I was hailed as the prodigal, and 
many a witty joke was cracked at my expense as a woods- 
man ; but the persiflage was atoned for by a thoughtful, 
considerate kindness that would have done credit to ten- 
der-hearted women. 

We spent a fortnight in the woods in the most pleasant 
manner possible, and were almost sorry to leave our wild, 
free life for the labor and conventionalism of civilization. 
All our days were not devoted to hunting the lordly stag, 
however, for we made excursions to interesting scenes in 
our neighborhood, explored lakes not even known to local 
geographers, and spent many a pleasant hour angling for 
the delicious trout of the streams and tarns, and in shoot- 
ing wild -fowl, or searching for grouse among their leafy 
coverts. 

When we turned our faces homeward we had three wagr- 



358 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

on-londs of venison, a bear, two otters, and three beavers, 
the two latter species of animals having been shot during 
moonlight nights while they were out enjoying themselves. 
The abundance of trout in these streams and lakes is some- 
thing wonderful, it being nothing unusual for one rod to 
capture a hundred pounds in weight in a day. Winged 
game was so abundant in the region in which we were en- 
camped that one gun brought down a hundred ducks or 
geese on morning and evening flight shooting alone; and 
I heard of a hunter there who killed over two thousand 
ducks in eleven days with a muzzle-loader. I have brought 
in twelve brace of grouse for a morning's work myself, and 
when out after hares I did not find much difficulty in bag- 
ging from twenty to twenty-five in a day. 

Game animals were so abundant, in fact, that the whole 
country seemed one preserve, and a person might shoot 
there day after day for months without seeming to affect 
their numbers. One cause for the profusion of small game, 
whether fur or feather, is the absence of foxes in the wood- 
ed districts; so that, having few enemies except wild-cats 
or wolves, and having a mild climate and plenty of food at 
all seasons, they multiply in the most rapid manner. We 
had our choice of all of them, and if ever men feasted on 
the best of wild game, we did. 

When we returned home, the venison was distributed 
ecpuilly among all the party, my share being given to the 
gentleman in whose house I was temporarily residing. To 
cap the climax of our fortnight's fun, the musical mem- 
ber of the expedition decided to give what he humorously 
called " a grand hunt ball," and to this all the neighbors 
were invited. 

A large wooden barn, which was used as a store-room 
for wheat and other grain, was emptied of its bins, and 
turned into a sightly and capacious ball-room by entwining 
the roof with evergreens, and hanging garlands of the same 
from side to side, and decorating them with rosettes made 
of vari-colored paper. The seats were made of barrels on 
which wooden planks were placed ; but those who prefer- 






THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 359 

red softer material were requested to bring chairs with 
them. The ball was au important event in that quiet 
neighborhood, and caused much pleasurable excitement 
among the young people — it even proved a pleasant topic 
of conversation among the old ; hence, when it came off, it 
was attended by the beauty and chivalry of Blank Prairie. 
The former were perfect specimens of rustic life, and the 
latter were typical representatives of the ideal pioneers 
who cared little for " biled " shirts, and tripped it away 
gayly without coat or waistcoat, while, some of them had 
their trousers tucked inside their heavy cowhide boots. 
The gentle sex evidently never paid much attention to the 
fashions, for the dresses of the majority consisted of sim- 
ple calicoes, which clung to their forms with the tightness 
of a porous plaster. 

The band consisted of one fiddler, who was perched on a 
chair that rested on two planks surmounting some barrels ; 
and though his position looked precarious, he seemed to 
pay no attention to it, and to think of no such thing as a 
backward tumble. When the company were assembled, 
the band scratched his fiddle violently a few times, caused 
it to give several excruciating screams, and after producing 
several cat-like flourishes, he ordered all who wished to 
dance to form on the floor for a " country " dance. When 
the lines were in position, he shouted out something like 
the following: "Now, any of you who don't know how to 
dance Monymusk had better. get off the floor and sit on 
the planks, because I don't want you to spile the fun of all 
the rest." 

As nobody seemed inclined to move, he turned to a 
young man near him, and said, "Jem Coffee-pot, do you 
know how to dance this ?" 

Jem replied that he did. 

" I don't bleeve that," said the band, " 'cause I've seen 
you try it on before, and you couldn't dance worth a cent. 
But never mind ; drive ahead now, as I see Susan Bumpas 
is your partner." 

" All ready ?" 



360 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

" Yes," shouted several voices ; and with this he com- 
menced scratching away for dear life, while the Terpsicho- 
reans went rushing up and down the floor and bumping 
against each other so vigorously that the weaker were fre- 
quently sent reeling against the wall. 

Everything was done in the greatest hurry; hence what 
the dance lacked in grace was atoned for in strength, and 
boisterous, laughing confusion. Half of those on the floor 
did not know the first principles of the figure, so they went 
rushing wildly about, while a dozen others were calling off 
the movements. The more stupid couples were frequently 
seized bodily by some man near them and pushed through | 
certain parts of the figure, but no amount of impromptu 
instruction could teach them what to do, and the result was 
that all were soon mingled up in the most perplexed man- 
ner. This seemed to make the self-sufficient band angry, 
for he yelled out authoritatively, 

" Stop ! stop ! Not one of you knows any more about 
dancing than a coyote ! Now, do as I tell you ; and those 
who don't like to do it can find a seat on the boards, where 
they belong. 

" Jem Coffee-pot, no foolin' ; and you, Hezekiah Sheep- 
shank, needn't spile the set by knowin' more'n you do. 
You weren't made for a dancin'-master. I could get a her- 
rin' knows more about it 'n you do. 

"You ladies needn't keep swingin' so long; a ball-room 
ain't no place for showin' your feelins'. 

" Now ; all ready ?" 

" Yes," shouted several. 

" Fire away, then," was the answer. 

" Now, Tom Fryin'pan, take Susan Fish by the hand and 
bow to her politely. Bow all. Up and down the centre, ' 
Tom, and swing. Lead off, and make it lively. Scoot to i 
the 'ind agen and back here. Come, make it lively ; none 
o' your waltzin' airs here. Swing opposite couples until 
you get to the 'irid. Make it lively ; one might think you 
were goin' to a funeral. Now balance all and swing part- 
ners. That's the way to do it. Tildy Fatt, take Dandy 



THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 361 

Tim through the same manoeuvres the others did. Hefty, 
isn't she, Dandy? Your biled shirt '11 be wet if you swing 
her much. Now swing opposite sides. You'll knock the 
dust out o' the floor, Tildy, if you peg it away like that. 
It'll do you good, though. All balance and swing part- 
ners. That's life for you; that's dancin'. Even the bar- 
rels under me are dancin' so lively that I'll soon be off. 
Nothin' like good music. All promenade. Jerusalem ! 
what a dust! I'm nearly choked. Fire away, though; 
never mind me if any of you have anything like 'stone 
fence' about you." 

With such comments as these, many of which were so 
ludicrous that the Terpsichoreans were roaring with laugh- 
ter, he sent all through the figure; and, when it was over, 
they were panting loudly, while their faces were steaming 
and covered with perspiration. 

The dances consisted principally of quadrilles, but an oc- 
casional polka or varsovienne was introduced, much to the 
delight of those who knew how to " show off with them," 
as the band expressed it. 

These exhibitions of strength were kept up almost unin- 
terruptedly until morning, the only interval of any conse- 
quence being that devoted to refreshments at midnight. 
These refreshments were as solid and hearty as the Terpsi- 
choreans themselves ; for they consisted largely of boiled 
beef, pork, or mutton, bread-and-butter, and, for dessert, 
sweet -cakes, cold tea and coffee, and rosy apples. Each 
family party brought its own provisions, and ate them off 
improvised tables made of knees. The only seats the ma- 
jority had were the planks of the floor, so that they lolled 
in various attitudes, several of which were so ludicrous 
that they would make the fortune of a pantomimist who 
knew them. 

The hunting-party had an excellent dinner, however, in 
the host's house, the />^ce de resistance being venison- 
cooked in many styles, while the fluids were confined to 
home-made currant-wine and "stone fence," the latter be- 
ing composed of old cider and whiskey. It is a drink that 

16 



362 



SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



soon produces a strong effect, and leaves a person the next 
morning with a splitting headache, should he exceed the 
most moderate bounds. 

When the dancing-party dispersed in the morning, few 
there were who did not look thoroughly fagged out, yet all 
were delighted with their night of pleasure. 

I left the neighborhood shortly afterward ; and though it 
is many a day since I was there, few trips that I have made 
in the West are so distinctly marked in my memory as the 
fortnight I spent in the forests of Washington Territory 
and my tarry among its hospitable inhabitants. 



THE ANTELOPE, OR PRONG-HORN 363 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE ANTELOPE, OR PRONG-HORN. 

The Prong-horn. — Its Haunts, Range, and Abundance. — Character of its 
Food. — Its fear of Woods. — Its Position in Natural History. — General 
Characteristics. — Strange Growth of its Horns. — Its Glandular System. 
— Is easily Tamed. — Sterility when Domesticated. — Its Speed. — Cours- 
ing it with Greyhounds. — Vigilance of the Animal. — A Herd on Guard. 
— Best Means of stalking it. — Great Curiosity of Males. — Weeps when 
wounded. — Twenty-four killed by one Dog. — A Day's Coursing on the 
Laramie Plains. — Lassoing Fawns. — The best Dogs for the Chase. — 
How experienced Hounds hunt the Antelope. — Stalking and its Re- 
sult. — Playful Fawns. — Stags and Wolves. — Fate of the Antelope. 

The American antelope, or prong -horn {Antilocapra 
americana), is found all over the open plains of the West, 
but is never seen in wooded regions, nor at any point east 
of the Missouri River. It was formerly very abundant, 
and thousands covered the plains as far as the eye could 
see ; but it is fast disappearing now before the onslaughts, 
and the precise, long-range rifles of red and white hunters. 

This very interesting animal was first made known to 
the scientific world by Lewis and Clarke, who found it on 
the Upper Missouri River in 1804, and met it in large num- 
bers from that point westward as far as the Cascade Range. 
It does not cross west of that great chain in Oregon and 
Washington Territory, owing to the wooded character of 
the region, but it crosses the Sierra Nevada Range, in Cal- 
ifornia, and small herds may now be met with in several 
parts of that State. It is still numerous in British America 
and the sections south of it on the Pacific slope, and is 
found extensively in all the Territories, as their population 
is very small at present. 

Its favorite habitat is the open, undulating, and treeless 
plains which have a light gravelly soil, and produce such 



364 



SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 




FEEDING-GROUND OE TUE ANTELOPE. 



succulent vegetation as the buffalo and the bunch- grass. 
The cause of its limited range may be attributed to its cau- 
tiousness, extreme fear of forests, and its peculiar taste in 
food. Its aliment is entirely herbaceous, and, unlike some 
of its kindred, it cannot be induced to partake of arboreous 
food, even when suffering from hunger. The only time 
when it can be persuaded to enter timber is when the old 
bucks wish to seek seclusion from their associates during 



THE ANTELOPE, OR PHONG-HORN. 365 

the growth of the horns ; but they will not seek refuge in 
it even then, if it is in any way dense, and is not surrounded 
by prairies. When startled there, instead of trying to con- 
ceal itself in the undergrowth, it breaks away at once for 
the plains, as if it depended more on speed than any other 
quality for safety. It is a fine specimen of grace and nim- 
bleness, and, when in motion, is an ideal representative of a 
quadruped in flight. 

It is interesting to naturalists from the position which it 
occupies in the animal world, it being the only species of 
its genus thus far discovered. It might really be called a 
combination of the deer, antelope, and goat, for it has some 
of the characteristics of all three. It differs from the true 
antelopes in having a branch or snag on its horns, in hav- 
ing no lachrymal sinus, and in being destitute of the pos- 
terior or accessory hoofs. It is smaller than the ordinary 
deer, an adult male seldom exceeding four feet four inches 
in length, and three feet in height at the shoulder, while the 
weight rarely exceeds seventy pounds. The head is rather 
short and broad; the ears are small and erect; the neck is 
short and erect ; the body is short and round ; the tail is so 
small as to be scarcely visible at any distance ; and the legs 
are long, thin, and tapering. The horns, which are its most 
characteristic feature, and which cause it to differ widely 
from all other ruminants, are worn by both sexes ; but they 
are little more than rudimentary in the female until she is 
full grown, and even then they seldom exceed three or four 
inches in length. I have known them to measure fourteen 
inches on the male, by following the curve; to have the 
snags five and a half inches from the base of the horns, and 
to be over twelve inches apart; whereas the horns, where 
they rise from the skull, are only from three to three and a 
half inches apart. The great peculiarity of these corneous 
appendages is, however, that while they are hollow, like 
those of the goat, the cow, and other ruminants, they are 
deciduous like those of the deer. This fact, which was 
acknowledged by the scientific world only after receiving 
overwhelming evidence of its truth, has given the animal a 



366 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

niche to itself, and it now seems to be accepted as the con- 
necting link between the Cervidce and the Capridoe — an- 
other proof that Nature abhors a vacuum. 

The male, when born, has protuberances where the horns 
are to grow, and by the time he is six months old these are 
developed into sharp-pointed little stumps capable of doing 
injury in an assault. They grow about an inch the first 
year, and are cast in January; but all succeeding horns are 
cast a month or two earlier, until the creature reaches ma- 
turity, when they are cast after the rutting season. Thus 
we have the peculiar and interesting fact of an animal that 
sheds and produces perfect hollow horns in a few months; 
whereas, in all other ruminants that have the same style 
of horns, the growth is slow and gradual, and takes some 
years to complete. Here, then, we have the missing link be- 
tween those animals that have hollow and persistent horns, 
and those which have solid and deciduous ones. In its 
dental formula it is also a link between the two families 
mentioned, for it has no canine teeth ; but it has eight in- 
cisors in the lower jaw, and boasts twenty-four molars. In 
its glandular system and salacious disposition it resembles 
the goat, but it differs from it in the fact that, while the 
former is the most indiscriminate of feeders, the most ac- 
tive of climbers, and a lover of rocks and mountains, the 
latter is the most particular of creatures in its choice of 
food, one of the least able to clamber amidst crags and 
precipices, and is at home only on the broad, treeless plains, 
where all objects are distinctly visible. It has the coat of 
the deer, and the eye and foot of the antelope, but it has 
the habits of neither in any particular degree ; so that it 
may say, like Shakspeare's personage, 

"I have no brother; 
I am myself alone." 

The hair of the antelope also differs from that of nearly 
all ruminants, but it is most closely allied to that of the 
deer. It is coarse and tubular, and therefore fragile, except 
at the points, where it is solid, and, as a result, tenacious. 



THE ANTELOPE, OR PRONG-HORN. 367 

It differs in quality in various portions of the body, that 
on the face and abdomen being the toughest. The general 
color of the animal is a yellowish -tawny; but the lower 
part of the sides, the belly, and a large patch on each flank 
are white. The mane, which is quite conspicuous on the 
male, is composed of long, firm, and erect red hairs. An 
important feature in the animal is its glandular system, 
which closely allies it with the true deer. Ten of the glands, 
all of which are dermal, are in pairs, and emit a pungent 
odor, which is more marked in the adult males than in the 
females and young, and is stronger at certain seasons than 
at others, being most powerful during the running period. 

If taken young, and treated kindly, this interesting creat- 
ure is easily tamed, and being of an affectionate disposi- 
tion, and intelligent withal, learns to follow a person about 
like a dog in a short time. It is a great pet in several 
parts of the West, and a dozen may be seen at a time run- 
ning about some farm-yards. It does not breed in domes- 
tication, however, and I doubt if it lives long, as I did not 
see one older than a year or two anywhere. If it does not 
join its wild companions, some mysterious disease, not un- 
like a poisoning of the blood, carries it away suddenly ; 
and when it is severely indisposed it weeps copiously, as 
if it were in deep affliction. Even in its natural condition, 
and amidst its favorite haunts, it is often attacked by a 
malady that destroys it in a few days ; and this frequently 
becomes an epidemic so sweeping that few are left alive in 
a large tract of country. The result is, that the animal is 
very abundant one year and exceedingly rare another ; but 
in this it only follows some hidden law of nature relative 
to the deer family in general. The last great epidemic oc- 
curred, as near as I can remember, in 1873 or 1874, and 
that swept away so large a number that one section of the 
country was almost cleared of them. 

The rutting season commences in September, and lasts 
until November, and during that time the males engage in 
severe contests, which are waged with horns and legs ; yet 
I never saw any fatal results from them. 



368 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

The females breed when a year old, the period of gesta- 
tion being about eight months. The young are dropped 
in June, the number at a birth being one or two, and never 
more, so far as I could see or learn. They are able to move 
about briskly in a few days after being born, and at the 
end of a fortnight may be seen out grazing with their 
dams. Their worst foes are the wolves; and to protect 
them from these prowlers, the mothers often seek shelter 
in places which they could not be induced to frequent at 
other times. 

When startled suddenly, an antelope makes several leaps 
or buck-jumps straight upward, and stares stupidly and 
wildly about for a short time before it attempts to flee; 
so, if a number are grouped together, that is the time for 
the sportsman to do his best work, for he may pour in half 
a dozen shots before the herd gets beyond range. Even 
after being fired at, antelopes will often run only a short 
distance before they halt, wheel about, and stare in a va- 
cant, startled maimer at the hunter, and this gives him an- 
other opportunity for planting a few bullets in their midst 
to good advantage. When they break away, however, 
there is no more " ringing up," for they will not stop, in 
all probability, until they have placed a goodly distance 
between themselves and the object of their suspicion ; and 
this they do in a short time, for they scarcely seem to 
touch the ground when in full flight; so all the hunter 
sees are numerous legs bobbing up and down as rapidly 
as if they were worked by a ten- thousand -horse steam- 
power. They present a graceful aspect in motion, and 
when a large herd runs together the scene is very spirited. 
Although the animals are very swift for a short time, and 
have fair staying powers, yet they are by no means so fleet 
of foot as some persons have given them credit for. I 
have seen good horses keep up with them long enough to 
enable hunters to empty their revolvers into a herd, and I 
have myself kept close enough to them, when mounted on 
a fleet American horse, to bring down a few with a rifle in 
a run of three or four miles. They have, however, a de- 



THE AX TEL OPE, OR PRONG-HORN. 369 

bided advantage over a horse in a rolling country, as their 
long hind-legs enable them to dash up a hillock with per- 
haps greater speed than they can show on the level; but 
where the undulations of a plain are not very marked, or 
hillocks are far apart, I am inclined to think that a fast 
horse can fairly compete with them for a short distance. 
A good deer-hound or greyhound would make short work 
of them if they did not get too much of a start; but if 
that exceeds one or two hundred yards, the dog must be 
fleet indeed that can pull down a full-grown stag in a dash 
of a mile or two. Coursing them with greyhounds is now 
the most popular means of capturing them in the West; 
and most exciting sport it is, as persons can follow the 
chase on horseback, and, if well mounted, they ought to 
see all its turnings. Several officers of the army, and even 
rough-and-ready farmers and stock-raisers, keep dogs spe- 
cially for hunting them, as the old system of stalking them 
is rapidly dying out among true sportsmen. 

To approach a herd undetected requires the most careful 
working, as sentinels are always on duty on elevated knolls; 
and as they command a broad view of the surrounding 
country, their eyes and noses are keen enough to discover 
the approach of any hunter, unless he is well concealed by 
bushes, hillocks, or ravines, and beats toward them from 
the leeward. Their hearing is also very acute; so the 
stalkers must be careful to make as little noise as possible. 
I have often thought them to be as defective in vision as 
the ordinary deer, and to be unable to identify objects un- 
less they were in motion; for I have frequently sat on the 
prairie to the leeward of a group, and seen several ap- 
proach me without any sense of fear, the only indication 
they gave of recognizing my presence being to stare at me 
at intervals. They have often come near enough to give 
me a shot at them while in that position; but the young 
were the most incautious and unsuspicious. If I made the 
least visible movement, however, they would scamper away 
at once, and circle around me at a distance, as if trying to 
solve what my designs were toward them. 

16* 



370 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

When shot at, I have known them to make several 
jumps before leaving for safer quarters, they seeming to 
have no idea that the smoke, noise, and hissing of bullets 
about them referred in any way to themselves. I fired five 
times one day at a yearling without hitting it, owing to de- 
fective cartridges, or some other cause; and although the 
balls tore up the ground beside it, or whistled about its 
head, it made no effort to leave until I, displeased with my 
shooting, attempted to approach it, and then it vanished 
out of sight in a second, taking a large herd with it. 

One of the surest means of stalking the animal success- 
fully is to ai*ouse its curiosity by waving gently, or allow- 
ing the wind to blow, a handkerchief or a piece of bright- 
colored cloth. On seeing this, it approaches cautiously, 
halts frequently, and stares in the most inquisitive manner; 
and having finally decided that the object is something 
worth knowing, advances boldly and by circling move- 
ments, until it comes within rifle range, when the hunter 
drops it. The male, in contradistinction to the usual rule, 
is far more vigilant and inquisitive than the female, and 
the first to be attracted by the deceptive lure; and if a 
herd is together, the largest stags take the lead in ap- 
proaching, and they are followed by the females and the 
young, which are ranged at respectful distances behind 
them. It is amusing to see with what ludicrous gravity 
all go through the same movements almost at the same 
time, and the mingled expression of astonishment and cau- 
tion they display. This propensity of the lords of the herd 
proves of use to the hunter, for he can pick out the best of 
them, and by one or two shots get more meat than he could 
by three times as many if he had to take the animals indis- 
criminately. 

The sportsman cannot get many shots at them, however, 
unless he is well concealed, and in such a position that they 
cannot get his wind ; for their curiosity would vanish in a 
moment did they sniff his dangerous character. 

The most interesting mode of capturing them is to chase 
them with trained greyhounds or deer-hounds, and some ex- 



THE ANTELOPE, OR PRONG-HORN. 371 

citing fun can be enjoyed by lassoing fawns; for if a per- 
son is mounted on a good horse he can run down the latter 
in a mile or two, and have a bucking youngster at the end 
of his lariat. I have killed both old and young from cov- 
er; I have shot them from horseback with a rifle, and tum- 
bled one over occasionally with my revolver, by bounding 
suddenly into the midst of a herd; but I prefer coursing 
them with greyhounds to any other means. If a person is 
not accompanied by these interesting companions, however, 
he can have some pleasant sport, if mounted, by jumping 
suddenly from cover upon a herd and firing away until he 
has knocked over several; for they become so thoroughly 
frightened on seeing their human foe that they dash wildly 
about in circling movements, and do not attempt to flee 
until a dozen or more of them, perhaps, are stretched on 
the ground. 

I have heard Dr. W. F. Carver, the famous rifle-shot, say 
that when he lived by hunting he frequently loaded a wag- 
on with antelopes by surprising them in this maimer, and 
that on one occasion he killed a small herd before they re- 
covered their wits sufficiently to break away bej 7 ond range 
of his deadly rifle. Few men can boast such a feat, how- 
ever; and it would, perhaps, be safe to say that the best 
scout or hunter in the West has never done anything to 
approach it. 

It is rather disagreeable for a man of feeling to ap- 
proach a wounded antelope, as the poor creature weeps 
copiously, and looks so appealingly toward him with its 
large and beautiful eyes, that he is fortunate if their glance 
does not affect him so much as to prevent him from put- 
ting it out of its misery. The same is somewhat true 
about lassoing fawns ; for, when captured, their eyes are 
often overspread with tears, especially if they have been 
driven hard, as if they were suffering the greatest pain. 
In many cases they are, no doubt; for they cut their fore- 
legs badly, when closely pressed, because, according to old 
hunters, they cannot, when tired, get them out of the way 
of the hinder fast enough; and the result is that the skin 



372 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

is worn away from above the knees to the hoofs, and this, 
of course, causes much suffering. To capture them with- 
out doing them any injury, they should be run down in as 
short a time as possible, and, when caught, be placed in a 
wagon, so as to prevent any necessity for dragging or forc- 
ing them along. 

As a proof of how greyhounds can compare in speed 
with the fleet-footed antelope, I may say that General Stan- 
ley's dog, Gibbon, captured twenty-four unwounded prong- 
horns in 1873, and that a hunter near O'Fallons Bluffs, in 
Nebraska, owned a couple of hounds that allowed few to 
escape if they did not have too much of a start. I have 
seen a brace of greyhounds that could overtake the swift- 
est stag in a run of two or three miles, if he did not have a 
leading start of more than three or four hundred yards; 
but if it exceeded that distance they became discouraged 
sometimes, and gave up the chase. 

One of the pleasantest days I ever spent among the 
prong-horns was on the Laramie Plains of Wyoming, which 
was then probably the best antelope grounds in the West. 
Our party consisted of half a dozen gentlemen, and a scout 
who acted in the double capacity of guide and cook — one 
of those men who are unknown in any other portion of the 
world, and who combine in themselves the qualities of 
hunter, naturalist, soldier, and Indian detecter. 

Our first movement was to hire a wagon for the purpose 
of taking our tents, clothing, and provisions to the camp- 
ing-ground ; the next, to secure the best horses we could 
find in the hamlet of Laramie; and the third, to arm our- 
selves with heavy rifles, revolvers, and long lariats. When 
all preparations were completed, the cavalcade marched out 
on the plains just as twilight was appearing, and moved 
rapidly onward until midnight, when it halted on the bank 
of a small stream which the antelopes were known to fre- 
quent in large numbers in the morning. The night being 
fine, we did not pitch our tents, but rolled ourselves in 
heavy blankets, and slept until daylight. I may add that 
we were accompanied by three magnificent types of the 



THE ANTELOPE, OR ERONG-HORX. 373 

Irish greyhound, having some mastiff blood in them, as 
they were kept specially for antelope coursing; the latter 
blood being infused in their veins for the purpose of giving 
them that combativeness and tenacity of purpose necessary 
not only to chase, but also to throw the agile and timid 
creature. Some pure-bred animals of the race, if trained 
when young, will not only pursue, but also pull it to the 
ground ; but, as a general rule, some cross-blood, either of 
the mastiff, deer-hound, or blood-hound, is considered an 
improvement, in order to give staying powers. I believe, 
however, that the unmixed race is thoroughly adapted for 
the work, provided it is educated at an early age ; but that 
idea would be a rather difficult matter to impress upon 
those whose experience is entitled to the fullest considera- 
tion. 

After three hours of fitful repose we arose from our hard 
couch, fed our horses, drank our dark coffee, partook of a 
slight breakfast of smoked beef and bread, then vaulted 
into the saddle. Our steeds were in excellent condition; 
so we felt that they would give us no cause to deplore our 
want of good-fortune. Moving from the streamlet to the 
high rolling plateaux back of it, we could distinguish by 
the dim morning light several groups of antelopes quietly 
grazing. Stealing to their lee to avoid being detected by 
their keen nostrils, and to seek the cover of some hillocks, 
we approached one herd to within fifty yards ere we were 
discovered. The dogs having been put in leash for the 
purpose of giving us an opportunity of trying to ride down 
a few animals, and tumbling them over with our rifles and 
revolvers, we put spurs to our horses as soon as we saw the 
creatures in motion, and were soon in full pursuit. Our 
steeds were given a free rein, and each person picked out 
his own quarry. I selected a dam which was accompanied 
by a brace of youngsters two or three months old, and pur- 
sued them only a short distance ere I came close enough to 
get a shot. This I delivered with my revolver at the fore- 
shoulder of the dam, and when the hazy smoke cleared 
awav I had the satisfaction of seeing her tumble over on 



;JV4 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE EAR WEST. 

her side. Leaving her, I followed the youngsters, which 
were running wildly about, as if dazed with fear and the 
loss of their guardian, and in a few minutes had my lasso 
about the neck of one. Taking a quick turn of the lariat 
about the pommel of the Mexican saddle, I dismounted, 
and left the well-trained mustang to hold the quarry while 
I tied its legs. This done, I went in quest of its mate, and 
soon descried it on a knoll, gazing wistfully about for its 
lost companions. A run of two miles or more after this 
also placed it in the noose of my lasso ; but it was more 
difficult to capture than the previous one, as it coursed 
and turned with the agility of a hare; and the morning 
breeze, which had just begun blowing, sent the lariat wide 
of its mark in several instances. I had to throw at least a 
dozen times before I was fortunate enough to accomplish 
my purpose. Tying a rope behind the fore-shoulders of 
this creature, I led it nolens volens to where I had left its 
comrades, and finishing the dam with a shot in the head, I 
gazed with pleasure on my spoils. I was so lost to every- 
thing but the excitement of the chase that I paid no heed 
to my companions ; and it was only when I heard the hunt- 
er's call, " Hoo-oo pee-ee," delivered in a sharp, high falset- 
to tone, that I was reminded of their existence. I respond- 
ed to the cry, and in a few moments more the party came 
dashing on, yelling, "Victory! victory! hoop-la!" A 
brief consultation was held, on meeting, and it was decided 
that, as our horses were too fatigued to run again for 
awhile, we should give the dogs their share of the amuse- 
ment for the remainder of the day. That matter having 
been settled, the wagon was sent for, and we went around 
picking up the slain animals, which amounted to only four. 
I was the only person who was fortunate enough to lasso 
any of the numerous progeny that followed their guardi- 
ans ; so they were given to me to dispose of as I pleased. 

Leaving that section, from which all the animals were 
driven by the reports of the firing, we marched five miles, 
and entered a small knoll-bound plain, along whose crests 
we could see several herds quietly grazing ; but every few 



THE ANTELOPE, OR PRONG-HORN. 37o 

moments a sentinel would raise its head to savvey the land- 
scape, as if fearful of the approach of some enemy. In 
air my experience I never saw this animal feeding on any 
ground that did not allow a broad range of vision ; and if 
by chance a herd should frequent a valley, several are al- 
ways kept on the lookout on the summit of the highest 
pinnacles, and if the fears of these sentinels are aroused, 
they give a sharp warning note, and in a moment after the 
entire column is scampering at its best pace for the ridges, 
whence they can survey their adversary. On reaching the 
valley, we decided to drive a portion of the herd across it, 
in order to give the dogs a fair run, and to give ourselves 
an opportunity of witnessing the sport. With this pur- 
pose in view, four of the party made a detour of a mile 
around the vale, and then dashed in among the startled 
groups from different directions. The suddenness of the 
attack caused a dozen adults, and twice as many fawns, to 
bound into the valley not a hundred yards from where two 
of us were trying to conceal ourselves. As soon as they 
struck the lower ground the dogs were unleashed, and 
away they went in pursuit at their best speed. As soon 
as the frightened animals became aware of the presence of 
their enemies, they seemed to fairly fly over the ground ; 
but the sturdy hounds, extending their noses and bending 
their bodies until the abdomens apparently touched the 
ground, gradually closed xipon them. One burly stag, de- 
siring to test his powers alone, broke to the right from 
the herd, and he was selected by the hounds. Running 
together, both dogs kept as close as if they were yoked; 
but when they reached to within twenty yards of the 
quarry they deployed, and ranged themselves one on each 
side of it. Finding itself outrun, it attempted a double, 
but, being checked, resumed its former course, then tried 
a sharp turn to the right. The experienced hound on that 
side was too swift for it, however, and with a bound he 
leaped at its throat, and, fastening his fangs deep in the 
flesh, brought it to the ground. The second dog, having 
quite a detour to make, was just in time to help to stifle 



3f6 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

the pitiful death -cries of the poor creature. While this 
run was taking place, the third and youngest dog was pur- 
suing a fawn, which he captured in a few minutes, after 
some pretty turnings and good bursts of speed. When 
the hunters saw the stag overthrown they gave an enthu- 
siastic cheer, as the chase displayed to good advantage the 
swiftness and tactics of both the pursuers and the pur- 
sued ; so, heedless alike of prairie-clog villages and the 
opportunities presented for shooting some terrified fawns 
that ran wildly about in every direction, they dashed over 
the vale, and were in soon after the death of the quarry. 
The efficacy of the cross-blood in the dogs was proved by 
the fact that they killed the animal themselves, while their 
training was manifested by the mode in which they hunt- 
ed ; for none but experienced dogs would run in couples 
and select one quarry from the herd. Did they not adopt 
these means of pursuit, they would be apt to receive only 
pains for their labor ; for if an antelope receives more than 
a few yards of a start it is likely to leave the hounds far 
in the rear, unless they possess unusual strength, fleetness, 
and staying powers. Some hunters in that region who 
live by the fruits of the chase have the finest antelope dogs 
I ever saw, they being long and strong of limb, lithe of 
body, and having heads both long and broad. They are 
not only useful in the field, but also about the house, as 
they are exceedingly vigilant and, apparently, fierce; for 
they rush at a stranger with flashing eyes and distended 
jaws. They are much handsomer than the pure-blooded 
varieties, as they display both strength and gracefulness of 
outline, while they are also taller and longer. 

In many cases they scorn to chase a hare, and if trained 
specially for deer or antelope, will not do it at all ; other- 
wise they would be of little comparative use to their own- 
er. In running, they hug the ground closely, and keep the 
head rather low, as if they were prepared to leap at the 
throat at any moment. 

After watering the dogs, we left the valley, and, moving 
to the north, trotted across a series of wave -like ridges, 



THE ANTELOPE, OR PIWXG-HORX. 377 

where we expected to meet some sturdy males that would 
test to the utmost the speed of the dogs. We had not 
proceeded half a mile, ere we encountered a solitary and 
burly old fellow grazing in a gully. As soon as he saw 
us, he gazed at the unusual apparition for a few moments, 
then broke away at a slashing gait. The young hound 
having strayed off a short distance, managed to get on 
his line of flight and to turn him to the left; and this 
movement enabled the larger dogs to get a short-cut, by 
which they closed rapidly upon him. Breaking away in a 
straight line, he made for the streamlet near which we en- 
camped in the morning; but the hounds clung to him, and 
for a distance of two miles forced him to his best pace, so 
that they did not seem to gain an inch. Our party, who 
were quietly seated in their saddles, were preparing to 
follow the chase, as it was rapidly retreating from our 
range of vision, when it suddenly appeared on the right, 
the crafty stag having decided to seek safety among the 
higher ridges ; but the determined pursuers had closed the 
distance so much that, ere he could seek his retreat, he was 
compelled to double and turn in every possible direction. 
This was the prettiest bit of a run I ever saw, for, quick as 
were the twists of the fugitive, those of the hounds were 
not less so, and they lost little ground in the doublings. 
Within an area of one mile the animal was turned twelve 
or fifteen times, perhaps; but overcome by fatigue, and the 
presence on every side of some one of its pursuers, which 
left it no means of escape except outrunning them, it be- 
gan to slacken its pace, until it was finally dragged to the 
earth by its merciless foes. When we reached the quarry 
it was alive, the hounds being too weary to kill it; so a 
revolver was put to its head, as it was injured so much 
as to be unable to live any length of time. Were it not 
for its injuries, the gallant creature would have received 
its life for the sake of the amusement it afforded and the 
display of speed it manifested. 

As the dogs were too fatigued to run any more for some 
time, we went in quest of fawns, and, meeting many, we 



378 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

spent the greater portion of the day in lassoing them ; but 
we secured only three, as our party were not much used 
to that mode of hunting. We returned to camp about four 
o'clock in the afternoon and partook of a hearty dinner, of 
which antelope-steak was the most prominent portion. The 
meat was by no means pleasant to the taste, being both dry 
and leathery ; but as we wanted sport and not pabulum, we 
cared little for that, and ate it only because it was a novel 
dish to some of us. After smoking our cigars, we again ' 
started out; but this time each carried a long staff, to 
which was attached a red piece of cloth, as well as our 
rifles. Riding about two miles from camp, we struck a 
herd, but, instead of chasing them, we dismounted, and, 
planting our pennants in the ground at a distance of sev- 
eral yards from each other, we tethered our horses and lay 
down near our gaudy banners. The antelopes, which were 
startled at our first appearance, began to circle around us 
while engaged in this preparation, as if trying to learn 
what in the world it meant. Finding that they were not 
molested, they commenced to draw closer gradually, until 
a dozen finally came within range of the rifles. A sharp 
series of reports followed, and four fine animals were tum- 
bled over. This was as much as we expected to accom- 
plish that evening, so we collected our spoils, and, throw- 
ing them across our horses, wended our way toward 
camp. 

The system of still-hunting is the one most in vogue 
among the Indians and pioneers ; but it lacks all the 
spirit and excitement of the chase, and is in reality only 
fit for pot-hunters. The sons of the forest were the first 
to make it known to the white hunters ; for, with their 
usual sharpness of observation, they noticed that curiosity 
was one of the principal faculties in the Cervidce, and, act- 
ing on this knowledge, they made that faculty the means 
of luring them to destruction. Were the pleasures of an- 
telope-coursing more generally known, it would become 
what hare-coursing is in the British kingdom, and with 
this greater advantage, that it affords much keener amuse- 



THE ANTELOPE, OR PRONG-HORN. 379 

mentj and gives hounds, horses, quarry, and hunters a bet- 
ter opportunity of testing their speed, power, mettle, and 
endurance. 

The Scotch deer-hound would, in my estimation, be an 
invaluable dog for chasing the antelope on the plains of 
the West; yet that splendid creature is scarcely known 
there, for I saw only three of the pure-blooded species in 
the entire region beyond the Rocky Mountains, though 
mongrels and crosses were not rare. Many of the best 
hunters in the country know little or nothing about the 
various breeds of dogs useful in the chase; hence they 
take no pains about procuring them, and seem to be con- 
tent with anything in the canine form so long as it will 
chase an animal. 

In stalking the antelope, I have sometimes killed three 
and four in a few hours, but I have on other occasions 
been out all day without getting more than a fawn. I 
have found that it will allow a person on horseback to ap- 
proach it nearer, without taking alarm, than it will one 
afoot, and that it will often give a man a good opportunity 
for an excellent shot if he walks slowly and halts occasion- 
ally, provided he is to the leeward, as its curiosity, rather 
than its fears, are then aroused. A Sharp's rifle of forty- 
five calibre, and carrying one hundred grains of powder, 
is an excellent weapon to use in stalking it ; and if a per- 
son is only careful in his movements, is not in too much 
of a hurry, does not walk too rapidly, and hunts to wind- 
ward, he will find that the supposed great difficulty of kill- 
ing the wary prong-horn will soon vanish, and that he may 
place it among his trophies of the chase without much dif- 
ficulty. 

It is an easy matter to get fawns at almost any time, 
as they are rather tame and unsuspicious, and so fond of 
playing, that, if they have none of their own companions 
to romp with, they make imaginary playfellows out of 
clumps of weeds or grass, and indulge in all sorts of gam- 
bols about them. Even the adults may be brought with- 
in rifle range if a person stands still or sits down, provided 



380 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

they do not wind him ; as they become accustomed to the 
strangest objects which are stationary in a short time. 

The males keep by themselves from spring until the 
running season commences in September, when they re- 
join the females and the fawns. They may be found near 
water in the evening, but during the day they frequent the 
uplands, as they feel more secure there, owing to the ex- 
tent of country they can survey at a glance. 

A wounded stag — unlike his Cervidean kindred, the 
moose, wapiti, and mule deer — shows little combativeness ; 
yet he will occasionally charge a hunter, and, if he can, use 
both horns and legs upon him. He will boldly face a wolf, 
however, when brought to bay ; but his opportunities for 
such a display of courage are rather scarce, I fancy, as I 
never saw his lupine foe able to overtake him in a straight 
run, and a six months old fawn can get out of the way of 
a pack of prairie wolves before they could ask where it was 
going. 

This interesting animal, like some othei - s, is destined to 
disappear in a short time from the list of the American 
fauna; for it cannot live in a thickly inhabited country, 
and its favorite haunts are now being occupied so rapidly 
by stock-raisers that their herds and flocks are pushing it 
farther into wild and inhospitable regions, where it often 
falls a victim to cold and hunger, or the attacks of stronger 
foes. 



THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT. 381 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE ROCKY .MOUNTAIN GOAT. 

The Rocky Mountain Goat. — Position in Natural History. — Its Classifica- 
tion. — Supposed to be a Goat-antelope. — Its Appearance, Haunts, and 
Habits. — Character of its Hair.— Vigilance of Sentinels.— Its Nimble- 
ness. — Fear of the Lowlands. — Getting Scarce. — Flocks in Flight. — 
First Introduction to the Goat.— A March with Indians. — A Stalk in 
the Cascade Range.— Its Result. — Disappointment. — A Ram killed. — 
Skin spoiled by a Fall.— A Hunt in Montana.— Sharp Terriers.— Their 
use in stalking. — Trophies and Tramping. — Opinion of an old Hunter" 
on Goat-shooting. — A successful Stalker's Faculties. — Charging Goats. 
— The use of Dogs in hunting them. 

The wild-goat indigenous to the United States is one of 
the most interesting animals on the continent to either nat- 
uralists or sportsmen ; for, being the only species of its 
family found in the country, and making its home amidst 
the gloomy chasms and rocky fastnesses of the great moun- 
tain ranges that traverse the Pacific Coast in every direc- 
tion, a certain air of mystery clung to it which made it 
doubly interesting as a trophy of the chase. Many skilled 
hunters were, therefore, anxious to bag it; but, considering 
its numbers, few have been slain, owing to the difficulty of 
reaching its retreats or surprising it. The Indians have 
thus far proven to be the most successful in its pursuit, as 
they have a knowledge of its haunts and habits, and are 
patient and persevering in stalking it. 

Among some tribes in the Far West the skin has been 
largely used for making caps and other articles of wearing- 
apparel, but it seems to be most popular as a lining for oth- 
er garments. 

This animal has received so many different technical ap- 
pellations that it is difficult to know which to adopt, but I 
should suppose that Aplocerus montanus was quite appro- 



382 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

priate, besides the fact that it is the one most generally 
used in its designation. 

Being a member of the Cavicomia, or hollow -horned 
family, some naturalists assume that it is deficient in some 
of the characteristics of a true goat, and to be so closely 
allied to the antelope as to be in reality a goat-antelope or 
antelope-goat, or whichever is the true name to apply. 
Professor Gray, of the British Museum, has placed it, with 
the European chamois and the mountain goat of the Hima- 
layas, in a particular group which he calls goat-like ante- 
lopes, and he has given it the specific name of Mazama 
americana, while he has classified the group under the 
generic name of Mazame. Unlike the American antelope, 
it does not, however, shed its horns ; and it may, therefore, 
•be assumed to be the connecting link between the antelope 
and the goat families. In looks and habits it is a true ca- 
prus — a fact which one may soon learn by teasing a tame 
youngster. The head and face are unmistakably those of 
a goat, but the body seems heavier, deeper, and less round- 
ed than that of the common species. It is about the size 
of the domestic sheep ; and, on account of its resemblance 
to the merino breed, it is often called the mountain sheep 
in portions of the West, while the true mountain sheep is 
known as the big-horn. 

There is some excuse for this mistake on the part of 
those who have no knowledge of natural history, for its 
fleece, which is snowy white, hangs down on the sides like 
that of an ordinary sheep ; yet it may be readily detected 
from wool by the fact that, though long, it is straight and 
coarse. It is, however, much finer and softer than the cov- 
ering of the domestic goat. The inner hair, which is about 
one and a half inches long on the adult, is fine, soft, fleecy, 
and tenacious, and is not unlike that of the Angora goat. 
The outer covering is abundant on the neck, back, shoul- 
ders, chest, throat, and thighs, but rather thin on the lower 
part of the limbs. The tail is short, and, though generous- 
ly clad with long hair, it is almost concealed by that which 
covers the flanks and contiguous parts. A long white and 



THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT. 383 

pointed beard adorns the chin, and completes its Capridian 
appearance. It is purely white throughout, except the 
hoofs, horns, lips, and the margins of the nostrils, which 
are black, so that it is a true denizen of the snow-peaks 
in hue. 

Its nose is strongly ovine ; the ears are pointed, and lined 
with long hair; the eyes are small, and are evidently in- 
tended more for length and intensity of vision than a broad 
range ; and the limbs are thick, short, strong, and sinewy. 
It has no tear -bag or muffle, so that it bears no resem- 
blance to the deer family in that characteristic. The 
horns, which are about six or eight inches long, and are 
" ringed " half-way upward from the base, are sharp point- 
ed, somewhat recurved at the upper extremities, and of a 
darkish hue. The hoofs, which are full in outline and very 
hard, are of a deep black color, and are deeply grooved on 
the soles; and the small posterior hoofs do not touch the 
ground. 

Its range, so far as my knowledge goes, extends from 
Southern California to Alaska, and from the Cascade and 
Sierra Nevada Ranges to the Rocky Mountains ; these 
mighty chains seeming to check its habitat on the west 
and east. It is much more alpine in its character than the 
big-horn, and frequents regions which the latter seldom 
visits. It is a daring climber, a nimble leapev, and bounds 
over crags and dangerous places that nothing less than a 
bird could apparently attempt with safety. It loves the 
higher pinnacles, where the daintiest vegetation grows, and 
where nothing but the eagle, snowy ptarmigan, and a few 
small creatures are its companions. 

It generally moves in flocks of from a dozen to fifty, but 
the former number is the most common, as one leader is 
sufficient ; and therefore any combats to decide which is to 
be commander is prevented. The young, which generally 
number two at a birth, are brought forth early in June 
amidst the lower ranges, say from five to six thousand feet 
in height; and when they are old enough to leap about 
briskly, their faithful guardians lead them to the higher 



384 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

peaks, where they are safe from nearly all foes except man 
or the daring eagle. They seldom fall a prey to prowling 
bear or panther, owing to the facility with which the latter 
can procure food in the wooded regions below; hence they 
have few enemies to disturb the peaceful solitude of their 
lives. While grazing, a flock has a sentinel to stand guard 
and give notice of the approach of an enemy. The senti- 
nel is always a male; and when he detects the presence of 
man or dangerous beast, he sounds an alarm in a few short 
peremptory calls. This brings his companions huddling to 
his side; and when all are assembled, the mothers and their 
offspring being in the centre, they dash for the most inac- 
cessible peaks at their best pace, and never stop until they 
have placed a goodly distance between themselves and the 
object of their suspicion. Once on safe ground, they throw 
out vedettes again. These occupy some huge crag or ele- 
vated knoll that commands a view of the surrounding coun- 
try — which is generally treeless— and this enables them to 
see all transpiring within range of vision. 

Since the settlement of the Pacific Coast the animal has 
been driven to the very highest mountain ranges to find 
food and security, and it is only near snowy pinnacles that 
it may now be found. Judging from the conversations of 
an old Indian in the Walla Walla Valley, in Washington 
Territory, it formerly occupied the peaks of the Blue Moun- 
tains, a range having an altitude of only five thousand feet; 
but I doubt if a specimen can be found there now. The 
Indians, to whom it was known as the wow, state that it 
was very difficult of approach, owing to its vigilance, keen- 
ness of scent, and the extensive view which the sentinels, 
always on duty, had of the surrounding country. Their 
most successful mode of hunting it was to drive a flock to- 
ward a canyon, where a party was concealed, and to shoot 
them as they dashed up or down the bluffs. They succeed- 
ed sometimes in bagging one by means of pitfalls and 
traps; but they placed little dependence on such means of 
capture, owing to the caution of the leaders. In many 
places wdiere it was formerly quite numerous, it has disap- 



THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT. 385 

peared entirely, but not through the war waged upon it 
so much as its natural inclination to keep away from the 
haunts of man, and especially, according to Indian tales, of 
the white man, whom it seems to fear more than any other 
foe. An old chief, known among his tribe on Puget Sound 
as 3Ioicich, or the " deer," from his success as a hunter, 
informed me that the goat was more abundant than ever 
along the snowy crests of the Cascade Range, especially in 
the vicinity of Mounts Baker, Rainer, and St. Helen's, ow- 
ing to the cessation of peltry hunting, which was so vigor- 
ously prosecuted by the North-western Fur Company, and 
the gathering of all but a few vagrant Indians on the reser- 
vations. This would seem quite probable, not only in that 
region, but in every other section that it has been known 
to frequent; so that it would be quite safe to state that it 
is more numerous now than it has been for many years. 
From inquiries among hunters, both pale and red, I should 
deduce that it may now be found in the mountains of Man- 
itoba, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Oregon, and 
Washington Territory ; but I should infer that it was more 
numerous in the latter than in any other section of the 
country. Some years ago a few were to be seen in a do- 
mesticated state at Deer Lodge, Montana ; and 1 heard of 
an Indian family on the Lumni River, Washington Terri- 
tory, having, what is most unusual for the red race, a brace 
of kids in their tepee so tame that they would follow the 
children around like the spoiled and playful members of 
the domestic species. 

To hunt goats with any degree of success requires pa- 
tience, perseverance, an unusual degree of caution, and a 
contempt for arduous toil; and he who is willing to dis- 
play these qualities need not fear a failure. A white hunt- 
er informed me that a couple of active terriers trained to 
drive the animals from their lairs, or to keep them at bay 
until the arrival of the Nimrod, would be the surest means 
of bagging them ; otherwise one could only hope to get a 
shot at them by accident, or unusual good-luck. They are 
not, in reality, any more difficult to hunt than the big-horns, 

17 



386 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST, 

except, perhaps, that they are scarcer, and frequent higher 
latitudes; and in some respects the bagging of a few would 
seem easier, as they lack the speed of the latter, and, as a 
rule, run obliquely to the right and upward, even if the 
wind is blowing in that direction. 

A good idea for a hunting-party would be to send some 
men above a flock, keeping well to the leeward, and for 
those below, if they have no dogs, to move to the wind- 
ward, and advance rapidly so as to surprise the quarry. 
This would send them scampering in the direction of those 
concealed above, and result in an opportunity for a few 
good shots, as they clash for crags or the mountains with- 
out any apprehension of danger from that direction. Should 
they be checked even, instead of turning back they would 
break to the right and left, and try to reach the highest 
pinnacles, owing to a blind instinct they have that all their 
danger lies in the regions beneath, which they so scrupu- 
lously avoid. 

The best time for hunting the animal is the early morn- 
ing or the dusk of the evening, when it is out feeding in 
some rocky vale; as it is then more readily seen, and the 
hunter is enabled to approach it with greater facility by 
keeping to the leeward, and in the shelter of crags, un- 
til an opportunity for a shot is presented. It is very dif- 
ficult to find during the heat of the day, as it lies con- 
cealed amidst dangerous ledges or gloomy precipices, and 
any attempt to track it would lead to the detection of 
the hunter before the hunted, for its hearing is as acute 
as its nasal power. If pursued at all at this time, it should 
be with the aid of keen -nosed terriers, as they are sa- 
gacious enough to find any four-footed animal running 
wild, and to chase it too, whether it be bear, puma, goat, 
or weasel. 

From many inquiries, and a limited experience, I am 
rather inclined to think that where it is little hunted it 
shows no great fear of man if he approaches it from the 
leeward, and does not alarm it by rapid movements. To 
stalk it successfully, he must therefore move slowly and 



THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT. 387 

cautiously, halt frequently if he thinks he is seen, make as 
little noise as possible, and use every available cover pre- 
sented by rock or shrub. My first introduction to this 
mountain sprite was in Washington Territory, and that 
taught me that the tales related by hunters of the difficulty 
of killing it were little exaggerated. 

I joined a party of Indians that were moving into the 
eastern division of the Territory, their chief having kindly 
consented to let me accompany them, on the ground that I 
sympathized with the creed which they had been taught 
by a self-denying Christian missionary. Our route led us 
through those dense forests that cover an area of nearly 
seventy thousand square miles of Oregon and the region 
mentioned, and grand and gloomy they seemed in their 
silence and magnificence. We followed a trail known only, 
so far as I could learn, to the red men, and this led us away 
from all vestiges of civilization, for not a house or a white 
man did we see until we entered the great plains of Eastern 
Washington. 

We moved onward by easy marches, halting for a day 
or two to enable the squaws to gather some of the innu- 
merable berries of many species with which the woods 
teemed, and to give the men an opportunity of killing 
game. This, fortunately, was quite plentiful, and the hunt- 
ing-parties returned each day with a stock of meat which 
embraced every variety, from the bear and deer to the 
hare, squirrel, and showtl. 

As we approached the snowy summits of the Cascade 
Range the forest became less dense, and we caught glimpses 
of open mountain dells, as picturesque as any the mind 
could conceive, which were covered with a luxuriant 
growth of tender grass, green mosses, and dainty sub-al- 
pine flowers, or we gazed on those stupendous bowlders — 
veritable mountains of bare rocks, which were the haunts 
of the mountain sheep and goat. 

Having halted one day to have a hunt among these an- 
imals, I was allotted as a companion a handsome — for an 
Indian — young fellow, known to his tribe as Itsoot, or the 



388 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

Bear, from the fact that he had once killed the plantigrade 
single-handed. 

Leaving the others, we moved toward the snow -fields, 
and after trudging half a mile obliquely upward, we struck 
goat " signs," and these induced us to halt to reconnoitre. 
My companion, after glancing at them some moments, told 
me in classical Chinook that they were fresh, and that we 
should soon meet a colony of the Capridce, if nothing un- 
usual occurred. Advancing slowly and silently, and glan- 
cing cautiously about, we entered a deep ravine, and, to our 
surprise and disgust, found, ere we had been there many 
seconds, that the colony had detected us, and were hasten- 
ing up the cliffs, some yards beyond, at a tremendous rate. 
Clambering up the steep bluffs the best way we could, now 
stumbling forward, then threatening to fall into the chasm 
below, we finally reached the upper world, only to see a 
small cloud of goats disappearing in the distance. I was 
angry at our ill-luck; but the i*ed man was as stoical as a 
statue, and showed no signs of emotion ; not even a word or 
facial thought escaped him. We toiled on once more until 
we got among some loose shelving and snow, 'and, after 
scanning our position, we saw three goats a short distance 
below us standing in an attitude of vigilance. They look- 
ed proud and enticing, and as we wanted them badly we 
attempted to stalk them. Bending low, at a signal from 
my cicerone we moved downward, now dodging behind 
rocks, now creeping almost on the ground, until my back 
seemed ready to break. We at length reached a conven- 
ient covert behind a huge crag, but, on peering out to get 
a peep at our quarries, we saw them moving up to the 
right. I was so disgusted that I fired ; but the only re- 
sult was to see one give a sudden bound as if wounded, 
and dart around rocks that hung over a precipice — and 
where a cat could hardly find a foothold — with remarkable 
ease and celerity. I followed it, but I dared not do more 
than attempt to peer toward its line of retreat for fear of 
having my head made dizzy by the depth and terrifying 
character of the chasm below. 



TEE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT. 389 

Nothing daunted at this failure, we commenced beating 
again, and, after working two or three hours, came upon 
an old ram that was promenading on the edge of a deep 
canyon in which we were walking. The Indian fired, after 
taking deliberate aim ; but instead of seeing the old fellow 
come tumbling down, he merely sent down a shower of 
loose stones, while he bounded away to less alarming quar- 
ters. The " Son of the Forest " got disgusted then him- 
self, for he gave a grimace, and started for the summit as 
if he considered goats perfect nuisances, or wills-o'-the- 
wisp. After toiling all day, we came back to camp with 
only one poor marmot, known as the " whistler," from the 
quaint noise it makes, and I killed that as a specimen. 

Our return was awaited with some interest by a few of 
the old men, who expected that my repeating rifle would 
accomplish wonders, and that it would be able to supply 
the encampment with goat's meat for several days ; but 
when they saw us come back almost as empty-handed as 
when we started, some of them looked disappointed, but 
they said nothing. One of the party killed a full-grown 
ram by stealing upon him ; but before delivering up the 
ghost he tumbled into a chasm, and that fall broke the 
horns, and mashed the body so much that the skin pre- 
sented a sorry appearance. I took the measurements of 
the animal, but, having lost my note-book, I cannot now re- 
call them. I ate some of its flesh during the evening, but 
I could not consider it to possess high gasti*onomic quali- 
ties, it being rather dry, and goaty in flavor. 

The most successful hunt among the goats that I ever 
enjoyed was in Montana. During one of my excursions 
in that fine game region I was fortunate enough to meet 
a pioneer who, in the early days of the country, before it 
was overrun with gold-seekers, procured his meat by hunt- 
ing, and in his company I spent two days in one of the 
mountain chains that trend to the north and west from the 
town of Deer Lodge. Our only companions, besides the 
pack animals that carried our camp equipage, were two 
rough-coated terriers that were trained specially for driv- 



390 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

ing goats and mountain sheep from retreats where the hunt- 
er could not well follow them. The first morning after 
our arrival at the scene of operations we were awake he- 
fore daylight ; and ere the earliest rays of the sun topped 
the highest pinnacles we were clambering amidst crags 
that reduced us to the most dwarfish human dimensions. 
Keeping well to the lee of a spot which the animals were 
generally known to frequent, we struggled upward for a 
couple of hours, but not a sound, except our heavy breath- 
ing, escaped us. We kept our eyes steadily engaged, how- 
ever, if we did not our tongues, in order that the expedi- 
tion should not prove barren of results through any want 
of vigilance on our part. 

A short time after daylight we reached a small plateau 
that enabled us to survey the horizon on every side; and 
here I brought my glass to bear, but no goats loomed with- 
in its range. " There must be. some on 'em here, though," 
said my companion, " for I never yet knowed this place to 
fail me ; so I'll bet my boots we'll get a crack at one in less 
than twenty minutes." The words, which sounded unusu- 
ally strange at such an altitude, owing to the rarity of the 
atmosphere, had scarcely passed his lips ere a group of 
about a dozen, the greater number of which were kids and 
their dams, broke from the cover of a huge crag not fifty 
paces from us, they having been routed by the active little 
terriers. "Fire quickly," shouted the ready scout; and, 
without waiting to take more than the most cursory aim, 
I fired at the fleeing flock thrice in rapid succession, 
while my comrade sent four bullets whizzing in the same 
direction. Before I could get another shot, the terrified 
animals had vanished in a precipice at, apparently, one 
bound. Following their line of retreat to see what the 
result of our fire had been, we were gratified to find with- 
in an area of fifty yards a dam, and two kids about six 
weeks old. "Fust -rate shootin' that," said the reticent 
guide ; " so it seems to me we'll have good-luck to-day, 
and make a reg'lar haul; but we needn't expect to git 
such good shots again, as they never allow one to get so 



THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT. 391 

close as that to 'era." I asked him at what range he gen- 
erally shot them, and he replied that it averaged at least 
from two to three hundred yards, and that he considered 
himself very lucky if he killed one in motion, owing to the 
difficulty of shooting any object that bounds in an irregu- 
lar manner. "I'd rather bet on killing five deer than one 
goat," said he, with the cold tone of an experienced hunt- 
er; "for I know how the deer will go, but nobody knows 
which way a goat will jump ; and, besides that, he gener- 
ally covers himself with rocks when he can." Experience 
has proved the correctness of his assertions, for I have 
found that one who would slay the animal must steal upon 
it unawares — a difficult feat to perform — and fire at the 
first opportunity, or the nimble creature may flee beyond 
reach. 

After "drawing" those we had slain, we placed them on 
a crag, which we marked by bearings, and went in quest 
of more; but after trudging through deep gullies and over 
rock-bound plateaux until noon, we were compelled to re- 
turn to camp, the guide having concluded that we could 
do nothing in the heat of the day, as the animals concealed 
themselves after the morning repast until evening again. 
After reaching our primitive quarters, we cut off a portion 
of the kid and roasted it, but it did not prove as palata- 
ble as one would infer ; for, though tender, it was dry and 
insipid. I did not try the flesh of the adults, being will- 
ing to accept the judgment of the guide, who stated that 
it was tougher than Leavenworth boarding-house steak. 
Throwing ourselves on the bunch of boughs and leaves 
which answered for a couch, we dozed until 5 p.m., when 
we again sallied forth. Taking a direction opposite to 
that which we had followed in the morning, a walk of half 
a mile brought us to a perfect little paradise of a valley, 
which was covered with green, luxuriant herbage, and wa- 
tered by a pretty stream that took its rise in a granitoid 
formation, and was therefore never dry. Being surround- 
ed by stupendous crags of igneous formation, the guide 
felt assured that we should meet some goats; so we pre- 



392 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



i 



pared for the event by filling up the magazine of our Win- 
chester rifles and half-cocking them. After a careful scan- 
ning of the bowlders, we espied a group of half a dozen 
animals in a niche far above us. Making a detour to the 
right, where a chasm yawned, we got to within a quarter 
of a mile of them ; but finding ourselves to the windward, 
and in a spot where we could get only one shot ere they 
might disappear, the guide took up one of the dogs and 
showed him where the goats were browsing. Wagging 
his tail to indicate that he understood his mission, he start- 
ed off at his best speed, followed by his companion, while 
we hastened back to an isolated mass of rock that skirted 
the vale on the north-east. The dogs having a wide detour 
to make in order to get above the goats, we were conceal- 
ed before their sharp bark announced that they had found 
the quarry. As soon as the animals were started, they 
came bounding down into the valley, in contradistinction 
to their usual manner, closely followed by the active pur- 
suers, which kept up an incessant yelping. I was so inter- 
ested in watching the daring leaps and nimble clambering 
of the flock that I forgot all about my purpose of tumbling 
one over; and it was only when the guide stated that we 
would have "to run for a shot" that I was recalled to it. 
Running at our best speed toward a series of bowlders that 
marked the line of a canyon, we reached there in time to 
see the flock bounding upward again ; but, ere they dis- 
appeared, we managed to get a rather indifferent shot at 
a couple in the rear at a distance of about one hundred 
yards. We did not expect to claim any prizes from that 
effort ; but we concluded to search, nevertheless, in hopes 
that we might have wounded one at least. Great, there- 
fore, was our satisfaction to find a handsome kid stretched 
dead on the ground, and a trail of blood a little farther on 
— a proof that another had been seriously wounded. Fol- 
lowing this gory pathway for a distance of several hundred 
yards, we reached a clump of dwarf pines, and there found ■ 
a yearling, ram in the last throes of dissolution. An ex- 
amination revealed the fact that he was shot through the 



THE MOCEY MOUNTAIN GOAT. 393 

heart, so we were not a little surprised at his tenacity of 
life. Shouldering the slain, we returned to camp, and feast- 
ed that night on tender kid. Having satisfied to the full- 
est an ambition of mine, we broke up our quarters, and 
four days after were back in Deer Lodge, I, for one, being 
highly pleased with our good fortune. 

To hunt the mountain goat successfully one must be 
cautious, patient, and persevering ; and he who can exercise 
these faculties need have little fear of not placing a few 
among his trophies of the chase. He may have to dare 
crags and chasms ; but as sport means exercising a per- 
son's mental and physical qualities against those of wild 
animals, few care for dangers and annoyances in compari- 
son to the success achieved. This goat will, it is said by 
old hunters, charge its human foe if it thinks it cannot es- 
cape otherwise, and display its butting power to as good 
advantage as the domestic species. It prefers to seek safe- 
ty in flight if it can, however, and does not hesitate a mo- 
ment to plunge into a precipice to escape threatened dan- 
ger. Fabulous tales are told about its immunity from in- 
jury in these terrific leaps; yet it is no more daring than 
the ibex or chamois, nor is it superior to them in passing 
over pendent crags, vaulting gloomy .precipices, or clamber- 
ing up the most stupendous ascents. Hunting it is much 
the same in character as pursuing these animals, except, 
perhaps, that it is less cautious where it is not hunted 
much. He who would follow it, however, must learn to be 
patient and daring, and care little for disappointments, for 
he is likely to have many of these unless he is more than 
ordinarily fortunate. It might, I think, be hunted to good 
advantage with sharp terriers or sheep dogs, as they would 
keep it at bay until the sportsman arrived on the scene, 
when he could easily finish the work, and then boast of 
something more tangible for his day's labor than a view 
of majestic mountain scenery. 

17* 



394 STORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE BIG-HORN, OR MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 

The Big-horn, or Mountain Sheep. — Its Haunts and Habits. — Character- 
istics required to Hunt it successfully. — Its Caution and Vigilance.— 
Order of a Flock in Flight. — Hunters' Tales of its Nimbleness. — Pug- 
nacity of the Males. — Contest between a Wolf and a Big-horn. — Size of 
Rams. — Measurement of Horns. — The Rutting Season. — Flocks of Old 
Rams. — Best Time for Hunting them. — Stalking Exercise. — A good 
Rifle. — Usefulness of a Field-glass. — Indian "Sheep-eaters." — Pemmi- 
can.— My First Hunt.— A Kill.— Stalk a Flock.— Detected.— The As- 
sembly. — Result of a Fusillade. — Tedious Chase after an Old Ram. — I 
get Butted over. — A tardy Capture. — Flavor of wild Mutton Cutlets. 
— Dogs for Sheep-hunting. — A Hunt in the War Eagle Mountains. — Our 
Success. — A Cougar scared. — "Dancing" Sheep. — Big-horns waiting 
for their Leader. — Adventure of the Guide with a War-party of Indians. 
— Defeat of the Latter. 

The only species of the Ovidce found wild in the United. 
States is the so-called big-horn, or mountain sheep ( Ovis 
montana), which is confined geographically to the moun- 
tainous regions of the Far West. It is closely allied to 
the Ovis amnion of the Himalaya Mountains, and differs 
from it mainly in size, being about one-third smaller, and 
the corrugations of the horns are also somewhat different. 
Amidst the many-shaped crests of the Western mountains 
this nimble creature loves to dwell, for there it finds an 
abundance of dainty food in the tender alpine and sub- 
alpine vegetation, and is free from nearly all foes except 
an occasional red or white hunter. A rather active war- 
fare has been waged upon it lately, however, in certain por- 
tions of the Territories, especially in Colorado, Wyoming, 
and Utah ; hence it is getting rather wild and scarce in 
these regions ; but in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washing- 
ton Territory, and portions of British America it is almost 
as abundant as ever, and in some places more so, as the 



THE BIO-HORN, OR MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 



395 



Indians can now procure pabulum in an easier manner than 
by laboriously following it amidst the snow -enshrouded 
mountains which it selects for a home. The amateur hunt- 
er who would, therefore, slay a large number must move 
to the distant regions of the North-west, and there he will 
find little cause to complain of ill-luck. Few creatures are 




TUE BIG-HORN. 



more difficult of approach than the big-horn, for, like all 
mountain animals, it is exceedingly keen of scent, unusu- 
ally vigilant, and so cautious that it carefully reconnoitres 
a country from an elevated stand-point ere it presumes to 
advance toward it. The Nimrod who would, therefore, 
place the heads of many among his trophies of the chase, 



396 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

must be not only of an active and vigorous form to bear 
steep mountain climbing and a rarified atmosphere, but he 
must also possess the qualities of patience, perseverance, 
and hardihood; for its pursuit may lead him through deep 
and gloomy precipices, over ground so stony and rough as 
to seem impassable, and amidst pinnacles whose towering 
altitudes and craggy sides make their ascent almost as dif- 
ficult as many of the famous peaks of the Alps. In early 
summer, however, it may be found at elevations of only 
four or five thousand feet above the level of the sea ; but 
from May to September, or as soon as the lambkins are 
able to travel, it moves higher up, for the greater safety of 
the young, and to secure the dainty vegetation that grows 
in every available spot as soon as the snow disappears. 

Though the favorite habitats of this animal are rugged 
hills and mountains, yet it will also thrive in a rough and 
broken country where the herbage is not only coarse but 
scanty, provided there are rocky steeps and dark chasms 
within convenient distance to which it can retreat when 
alarmed, or when it is pursued by foes. When a flock is 
migrating to pastures new, the sentinels, or leaders, care- 
fully scrutinize the country before them from every com- 
manding position, and when they are satisfied with its ap- 
pearance, the whole party advance boldly, and, having made 
it their head-quarters, throw out vedettes, generally males, 
which mount guard on elevated crags or hillocks, and vigi- 
lantly survey their surroundings until their companions 
have dined, when all seek shelter amidst crags, small pine 
or fir coppices, and inaccessible shelves of rock or sombre 
canyons, where no ordinary enemy can follow them with- 
out making its presence known. 

When a sentinel detects the approach of a suspicious ob- 
ject, he sounds an alarm at once by a few loud and peremp- 
tory hissing snorts ; this brings the flock huddling togeth- 
er, the ewes and lambs being in the centre; and when the 
column is formed, all dash for the highest ridges at their 
best pace, and never stop until they have sought a safe ref- 
uge among crags or chasms. The advance is always led 



THE BIG-HORN, OR MOUNTAIN SHEER 397 

by a sturdy ram, one that is generally looked upon as the 
leader, and the rear and flanks are carefully guarded by 
the young males. When flocks of old rams congregate to- 
gether, which they always do after the running season is 
over in December, the first one in an alarm that moves off 
is the leader, and all the rest, like the domestic sheep, fol- 
low him heedlessly, in a bunch, until a halt is made, when 
sentinels are again posted, and the source whence danger 
is expected is carefully watched. 

In regions even where they are little disturbed, they 
raise their heads every few minutes while feeding, and sur- 
vey their surroundings ; and as they are both sharp of eye 
and keen of scent, it requires the most careful stalking to 
approach them within shooting range without being de- 
tected. They will get the scent of a hunter to the wind- 
ward seemingly half a mile away; and when that terrify- 
ing odor is made known to the flock they display the great- 
est symptoms of terror, and dash wildly for the highest 
pinnacles, now leaping nimbly from crag to crag, or vault- 
ing dark and narrow chasms with the greatest ease, anon 
plunging head foremost into precipices apparently deep 
enough to shatter them into fragments should they strike 
the ground ; nor do they stop until they have placed a 
goodly distance between themselves and their most dread- 
ed foe. They hurl themselves from giddy heights into the 
depths below with such readiness that one is liable to give 
some credence to those tales related by red and white hunt- 
ers, which specify that they would prefer death to an en- 
counter with man ; and that their horns are so strong and 
elastic that they can fall upon them on a crag several feet 
below, and rebound to their feet none the worse for the 
concussion. The latter statement may be taken with a 
large grain of salt; for though I have seen them make 
some terrific plunges, and some which I thought would re- 
sult in their instantaneous destruction, yet they escaped un- 
injured, not, however, because they alighted on their horns, 
but on their feet ; and these being enveloped in a corneous 
and elastic covering, capable of bearing a severe shock, 



398 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

they were able to scamper away as easily after their bounds 
as if they had never made them. The broken tips of the 
horns, and the often scaled or split character of portions of 
their outer rind, are supposed by old hunters to be the re- 
sult of falling on them constantly ; but this is evidently a 
mistake, and is due to the habit the animals have of using 
their appendages to aid them in climbing steep and stony 
places. The rams also use them freely enough in combats, 
and this undoubtedly causes the scaling or splitting; for 
they must be hard, indeed, if they can resist uninjured the 
terrific force with which two warriors, weighing from one 
to over two hundred pounds each, strike each other. These 
combats are waged according to the rules in existence 
among the domestic species, but, owing to the closeness of 
the horns and their forward projection, the animals do not 
suffer so much from headache after the contests as the lat- 
ter, nor do they seem to be so fond of causeless warfare. 

Both sexes arc adorned with head appendages, but they 
are rather light on the females, those of a veteran great- 
grandmother not being larger than those of a two-year-old 
male. They are also less recurved, being more like those 
of a goat ; yet they are most effective weapons in an as- 
sault, as prowling foxes, wolves, and wild-cats have learned 
to their sorrow. I once saw a wolf trying to make a deli- 
cious repast off a lamb three or four months old, which it 
caught in a bit of wood during the temporary absence of 
the mother ; but, ere it could kill it the latter arrived, most 
unexpectedly, on the scene, and, charging the bandit with 
the greatest vehemence, gave it such a crushing blow on 
the ribs that it was glad to beat as rapid a retreat as its 
stomach-ache would permit, while mother and lamb trotted 
off up the mountain. 

The skulking brute, which looked thoroughly disappoint- 
ed, sore, and heart-sick, was not through with its troubles, 
however; for in its hungry meditation, it paid no heed to 
surrounding objects, so found itself unexpectedly among a 
small flock of rams which had just emerged from a ravine, 
where they had been drinking. When it saw these new 



THE BIO-HORN, OR MOUNTAIN SHEER 399 

foes it looked thoroughly scared and crestfallen, and at- 
tempted to flee from the threatening eyes and heads; but 
before it could decide upon its line of retreat the flock 
charged it from various directions in a body, and one burly 
fellow, having horns on him like a gnarled oak, struck it in 
the ribs with such terrific force that he doubled it up, and 
sent it flying two or three yards away with a velocity that 
must have scattered its wits, and caused it to deplore the 
day that its love of mutton had induced it to try and feast 
on lamb. 

Before any of the others could assail it in the flank it 
managed to collect its sore and sadly dispersed faculties, 
and, placing its tail between its legs, it got up and dusted 
down that mountain-side at a higher rate of speed than 
ever it did before ; and right glad it seemed, when it found 
itself beyond the reach of those powerful battering-rams. 
I was so much interested in the scene, and laughed so 
heartily at the discomfiture and terror of the runaway, that 
the flock got beyond the reach of my shot-gun before I re- 
covered myself sufficiently to think of attempting to shoot 
one. Had I tried it, however, it is doubtful if I would 
have been successful, as I did not expect to meet them in 
that quarter, and they were so vigilant that it would have 
been only by the merest chance that I could have approach- 
ed them near enough to get a shot. Although these ani- 
mals are exceedingly timid in the presence of man, and 
wildly flee before him, yet they will not hesitate a moment 
to face any ordinary foe, and to render a good account of 
themselves in a combat. In their usual haunts they are, 
however, free from nearly all enemies except man ; and 
what few they have they can easily elude by their vigilance 
and caution, and the inaccessible character of their country. 

The big-horn bears very little resemblance to the domes- 
tic species ; but it is almost a perfect copy, except in size, 
of the Asiatic wild sheep ( Ovis amnion), and it is also like 
it in character. It is, in the first place, more like a deer in 
outline and color of body than a sheep, its ovine face, taste 
of flesh, and habits being the qualities that ally it to its do- 



400 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

mestic congener. It is much taller, fuller, and mere spirit- 
ed in action than the latter, and all its movements are char- 
acterized by a lithe grace, a rapidity of movement, and a 
prompt agility that the farm-yard variety never possessed. 
The height of a full-grown male varies from thirty-four to 
forty-one inches; length, from forty-four to sixty inches; 
length of caudal vertebra?, from one and a half to three 
inches; and length of face, from base of horns to tip of 
nose, from ten to twelve inches. The heavy recurved 
horns which adorn both sexes also make a marked differ- 
ence between it and the domestic species; and in place of 
long, fine, and soft wool, it is covered with coarse tubular 
hair of a yellowish brown color, which changes to a dull 
line of white on the posterior side of the fore and hind 
legs, and to a white patch on the flanks and abdomen. The 
outer hair, which resembles somewhat that of the caribou 
and antelope in character, is not very coarse to the touch, 
and the inner is fine and soft. The coat changes according 
to the seasons, being lighter in the winter and spring than 
in the summer. Some old males are almost hoary in early 
spring, owing to the rubbing away of the black tips of the 
hair; and when in that condition they looked like grizzled 
veterans. The horns of the latter are magnificent append- 
ages, and well worthy to adorn the finest dining-halls. They 
measure along the curve from thirty to thirty-eight inches, 
and, in rare instances, even forty-two inches ; their circum- 
ference at the base varies from ten to fifteen inches ; and 
the width between the tip of one to that of its fellow 
ranges from sixteen to twenty-seven inches. I have found 
the measurement of several horns examined to vary much, 
but it was generally in their length and distance apart; 
the difference in their circumference at the base, when full 
grown, seldom exceeding three inches. The hollow part of 
the horn of a large ram will hold two gallons of fluid ; but 
it is so inconvenient and awkward that even the Indians 
rarely use it as a water vessel. 

The males sometimes attain a weight of three hundred 
and fifty pounds, but the average lies between two and 



THE BIG-HORN, OR MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 401 

three hundred pounds. The females are somewhat smaller 
than the rams ; and their appendages, though lacking in 
massiveness, are well formed and graceful, and do not give 
the head the stunted appearance of the males. The face, 
which is narrow, is thoroughly ovine in appearance; the 
eyes are large and full, and are intended for breadth as 
much as intensity of vision ; the legs, which are long and 
tapering, yet sinewy, are evidently intended for both leap- 
ing and running ; and the body, when in good condition, is 
round rather than deep ; and this gives the animal a grace- 
ful, active, and vigorous aspect. 

The running season, which commences in the early part 
of December, does not last very long ; and though contests 
between the males are often waged then, yet they seldom 
prove serious, for one, on finding that it is worsted, yields 
the field at once to the sturdier rival, and seeks elsewhere 
for a mate. The selection of companions is not so easy a 
matter as it is among the domestic species, and the weaker 
members have often to pay dearly for the affection they 
have won. When the running season is over the old rums 
congregate together in bands of from eight to thirty, while 
the younger keep with the lambs and females, and act as 
their escorts and guardians. 

The lambs are dropped in May or early in June, accord- 
ing to the climate of the country, among the lower foot- 
hills ; but as soon as they are able to travel, which is gen- 
erally at the end of two weeks, the mothers commence 
working gradually upward, according as the atmosphere 
becomes warmer and the vegetation more abundant, until 
they reach the snow-line ; and there they remain for some 
time, feasting on the small and succulent herbage that 
sprouts wherever it can raise its head. They tarry there 
until the lambs are able to move briskly about and take 
care of themselves, if necessary; then they scour the hills 
in every direction, going wherever fancy leads them, and 
revelling in the fredom and delights of their mountain 
home. The lambs are old enough to make delicious mut- 
ton, and to furnish excellent hunting at the end of three 



402 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

months; and as their dams and sires are also in the best 
of condition at that time, say about' the middle of August, 
he who would feast on wild cutlets should then seek them 
amidst the crags and chasms of their exalted retreats. 

The best time to hunt them is early in the morning or 
late in the evening, as they are then out feeding and play- 
ing, or searching for water ; and as they are prominent ob- 
jects in a landscape, they may be seen by the contrast they 
present to their surroundings, or they may be tracked by 
their " signs " or droppings. There is only one way in 
which they can be hunted with any degree of success, and 
that is to stalk or "still-hunt" them up wind, taking care 
to use every rock and shrub for shelter ; to move as noise- 
lessly as possible, as their ears are as sharp as their eyes, 
and they are very suspicious of the least disturbance of the 
mountain stillness ; and not to be too anxious for a shot, as 
impatience is apt to lead to many disappointing and weary 
tramps. They should be stalked from above, if possible, as 
they do not expect any danger from that direction, all foes 
being supposed to come from below. If alarmed from 
above, instead of running down, they scamper obliquely 
upward and against the wind, and this habit often leads 
them to death, as hunters conceal themselves behind bowl- 
ders, and, as the terror-stricken flocks rush past, they pre- 
sent an excellent opportunity for close shooting. The best 
weapon that I ever used against them was a Winchester 
magazine rifle, as it enabled me to fire in rapid succession ; 
and its charge of powder, which might be considered too 
small for larger game, was strong enough to send a bullet 
crashing through the body of a big-horn at a distance of 
three or more hundred yards. As they are rarely stalked 
under one hundred yards, except by unusual fair fortune 
or accident, a good and accurate rifle »is an indispensable 
necessity to success in hunting them. The novice would 
find a field -glass an excellent aid in discovering them 
among ledges ; and should he be accompanied by a guide, 
he may, through its advantages, get several shots to the 
other's one, as it is seldom that two hunt close together j 



THE BIG-HORN, OR MOUNTAIN SHEER 403 

and he who has the best range of vision is the person most 
likely to see them first, and to be the first among them. 
As they are quite numerous in Montana, Idaho, and in 
Klamath Basin in Oregon, any amateur may class them 
among his trophies of the chase, provided he is willing to 
bear the toil and expense of visiting their haunts. They 
are common also in Wyoming; and one peak is called 
Sheep Mountain, from the numbers which formerly fre- 
quented it. A small remnant or band of Indians who 
dwell in its .vicinity are known as Sheep-eatei's, from the 
fact that they lived principally on the flesh of the big-horn, 
and that they are more partial to it even now, though they 
have partaken of the foods used by the white man, than to 
any other class of meat. Several Western tribes make the 
flesh into pemmican, and consider it superior to that made 
from the buffalo, while they use the fat for making candles. 
These give a bright flame, and burn like a wax- candle. 
The whites, even, consider wild cutlets a rare delicacy, for 
the flesh of a big-horn in good condition brings fifteen 
cents a pound, whereas venison sells for five cents, and 
often for less. 

I first became acquainted with mountain sheep in Ore- 
gon, in which State they are still quite numerous along the 
eastern slope of the Cascade Range, and especially in that 
vast zoological garden known as the Klamath Basin ; and 
I felt prouder of the first one I killed than I did of all that 
has since fallen to my lot. The friend in whose company 
I hunted on that occasion lived in Eastern Oregon, and 
cultivated a fertile farm at the base of a high and long 
spur of the above Range. Starting out from his house by 
half-past 3 a.m., one fine morning in autumn, a long and 
toilsome climb led us to the summit of a mountain spur; 
and working our way slowly to the windward along this, 
and peering about every where for "signs," an hour's tramp- 
ing carried us into a small and green vale, which was bur- 
ied deep down in the mountain-side. It was covered with 
the greenest and most luxuriant of grasses, and was hem- 
med in by dark basaltic crags, sloping terraces, and fune- 



404 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

real pines and fivs that soughed in the morning breeze. A 
fairy-like tarn nestled in the centre, and reflected the shrub- 
bery that margined its banks with mirror -like fidelity. 
Passing through this vale, we reached the steep ascents 
on the farther side just as the blood-red morning sun be- 
gan to peer above the mountain ; and this revealed to us 
in a weird light the vast panorama of hill and plain, which 
stretched out before us in all its grandeur. Magnificent 
as the scene looked, and much as we should have liked to 
have gazed long and earnestly upon it, time forbade us 
such pleasure, so we were compelled to commence clam- 
bering once more, and to strain our eyes in quest of 
" signs." 

After beating about for an hour we came suddenly upon 
them, and they were so fresh that we knew the sheep must 
be somewhere in our immediate vicinity. Moving as noise- 
lessly as we could, taking advantage of every shelter fur- 
nished by shrub or rock, and peering about us with the 
greatest cautiousness, as if we feared that the movements 
of the head would startle the quarry, we advanced very 
slowly; so slowly, in fact, that it was painful to me, as my 
heart seemed heavy with suppressed excitement, and my 
breathing was short and labored. 

After crawling to the windward in this manner for half 
an hour, I approached several huge bowlders that towered 
upward from the ground to a height of thirty or forty feet, 
and, on rounding one of these, I came suddenly upon five 
sheep which had evidently only commenced their matutinal 
meal, as one of them was just arising from its couch when 
I arrived on the scene. Their sudden and unexpected ap- 
pearance was as great a shock to me as my presence was 
to them ; and for a second or two we both stood still and 
mute, when they, with a loud snort, dashed for the summit 
at a rate of speed I would not have credited them with. 
Their movement aroused me also, and, taking a hurried 
aim, I fired at them when passing in a bunch through a 
rocky gate-way in the dell ; but I did not have the satis- 
faction of seeing any fall. Deeply chagrined at my bad 



THE BIG-HORN, OR MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 405 

shooting, I hurried after them as rapidly as I could, aud 
was soon rejoined by my companion, who felt as keenly 
about my want of success as I did myself, as he feared we 
should not be able to get another shot during the morning, 
and perhaps not during the day, owing to the noise created 
by the firing, which would send them all scampering to- 
ward the highest pinnacles, where it would be difficult to 
pursue them. After pursuing them for about two hundred 
yards, we came upon spots of blood, and this brought us 
the joyous assurance that one at least was wounded. 

Following up this trail until it led to a large piece of 
shelving formed of loose stones, which overhung a deep 
but very narrow chasm, I commenced scouting over it, 
while my companion worked to the right among some 
young firs and large crags that skirted a ravine. I lost it 
suddenly, however, and though I quartered in every direc- 
tion I could find no trace of it. Returning to where I first 
lost it, I saw that some of the small stones were overturned 
very recently, evidently by the stamping of an animal in 
pain ; and this caused me to look at their under side, and 
that I found freely sprinkled with blood. Turning up 
those that were disarranged, I followed their course for a 
few feet until I came to a small wall or terrace, which was 
scarcely two feet high, and ran along the outer end of the 
shelf. 

Not daring to advance to that treacherous foothold, I 
gave a lusty shout to arouse any game that might be con- 
cealed there, and the mountains had scarcely taken up the 
echo before a splendid ram bounded from the shelter of 
the wall and attempted to leap the chasm; but I was ready 
for him that time, and he had scarcely risen in the air be- 
fore a ball went crashing through his sides, and sent him 
headlong into the canyon; but, very fortunately, instead of 
being dashed to pieces on the rocks below, he fell into a fir 
that grew on a most convenient ledge, whence I was able 
to drag him to a more eligible locality, where I could gloat 
over him in comfort. My companion joined me half an 
hour later, he also having succeeded in killing one by com- 



406 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

ing suddenly upon several that were grazing among huge 
bowlders ; and, much to my satisfaction, as I wished to se- 
cure the heads of both sexes, I heard it was a female about 
two years old. By cutting two stout branches off a pine- 
tree, we made a litter, and placing the ram upon it, carried 
him to where the ewe was concealed. Both were then de- 
spoiled of the viscera, and a long pole was placed under 
their hind -legs, which were tied, and they were pushed 
high up against a tree, to prevent them from being de- 
voured by any prowling quadrupeds. 

Continuing our course upward, and still against the 
wind, we scrambled and stumbled about for about an hour, 
and finally reached a small plateau which gave us a com- 
manding view over a large area of the mountains. Sweep- 
ing it in every direction with a glass, I could see no traces 
of sheep there ; but not so my companion, for he called my 
attention to some irregular specks that loomed against the 
horizon far to the north. After watching them carefully 
for several minutes, I discovered they were groups of sheep 
that were migrating to pastures new ; so we made prepa- 
rations to intercept them. Running toward them with all 
possible haste, we got so near in less than an hour that 
we commenced stalking them. Moving toward the sum- 
mit, we gained a position a little above them at a dis- 
tance of perhaps two hundred yards, before our haste 
caused us to be detected by a vigilant old ram, whose 
eyes seemed to be ubiquitous ; for we were often com- 
pelled to throw ourselves flat on the sharp stones to avoid 
his piercing gaze, when we supposed he was interested in 
his food. 

As soon as he announced our presence by a hissing 
snort, the animals, which were widely scattered, ran to- 
gether in a bunch ; but before they decided upon moving, 
we fired at them four times in rapid succession, and, when 
the smoke cleared away, we saw two young rams and a 
lambkin on the ground; but we inferred that we had 
wounded others, as we found drops of blood on their line 
of flight. Being too well satisfied with our good-luck to 



THE BIG -MORN, OR MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 407 

follow the fugitives, we turned our attention to preparing 
our captures for transportation homeward. 

It seems to be a characteristic of the big-horns that 
when they are first startled they rush together and remain 
bunched up for a short time previous to their flight, as if 
they were dazed; and that is the best time to shoot at 
them, as one shot then is worth half a dozen when they are 
fleeing. While moving down the mountain we espied a 
sturdy ram stalking about, as if he were monarch of all he 
surveyed^; and his stately mien and vigorous action caused 
me to long so much for his horns that I resolved to capt- 
ure him if possible. Leaving my companion with the 
"drag "of mutton, I crawled carefully toward a clump of 
pines, where I expected to be within range ; but, on reach- 
ing that point, I saw the object of my ambition quietly 
strolling over a hillock several hundred yards away. I felt 
severely disappointed at this unexpected movement; but 
as I was still anxious to procure the horns, I concluded to 
have them, if I tramped after him all day. Moving up the 
mountain once more, and taking every advantage afforded 
by bowlders, declivities, and trees — and where these were 
not to be found bending low to the ground — I crawled 
along as if my back were built on the right-angle principle, 
and my legs were intended to make an obtuse angle from 
the knees downward ; while my forehead was a mass of 
wrinkles, and one eye was constantly turned skyward, as if 
the quarry were up in that direction. 

After half an hour's tedious running and crawling, I 
halted, and craned my neck slowly from behind a small 
crag to see if I could detect the ram. Yes, there he was, 
not two hundred yards away, gazing proudly about him, 
and surveying the noble landscape, visible in every direc- 
tion, with a critical eye, and in an attitude of vigilance. I 
crouched behind my shelter when I saw his glances bent in 
my direction ; but when he turned them away I lifted my 
head carefully and gradually above the rock, then pulled 
up my rifle as slowly as if its movement through the air 
could be heard, and, taking deliberate aim at the body, I 



408 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

fired, and felt a great sense of relief on hearing the deto- 
nation. When the smoke cleared away I saw him bound- 
ing away to the north at a tremendous rate, and evidently 
thoroughly scared, if not hurt. I was almost sure I had 
hit him ; but his pace seemed to give a contradiction to 
ray thoughts, and I felt anything but pleased with myself. 
After gazing mechanically at his retreating form for a few 
moments, I saw him lie down on a treeless plateau several 
hundred yards away, and I then inferred that he was 
wounded. I therefore concluded to try another stalk, and 
commenced that tedious operation once more. By crawl- 
ing carefully on my hands and knees, and halting occasion- 
ally, I got within one hundred and fifty yards of him ; and 
seeing his horns peering above some rocks, I aimed and 
fired at his head, or, rather, where I supposed it to be. 
The report was followed by a violent scrambling, which led 
me to believe he was breaking away ; but he had scarcely 
emerged from his place of concealment before he pitched 
forward on his horns as if he were dead. On seeing this, 
I advanced toward him, and laid my rifle on the ground 
within twenty feet of him, as I intended to use my knife 
for cutting his throat; but what was my surprise to see 
him bound suddenly to his feet when I drew near him, and 
break away for a mass of crags that rose abruptly upward 
from the mountain a few yards away ! I was taken aback 
so much at this unlooked-for movement that I merely 
gazed at his retreating form in blank amazement until it 
disappeared amidst the rocks. The meditation that I in- 
dulged in after he had vanished would never take me 
among the angels, for I was actually disgusted at my own 
bad shooting and stupidity; but I became calmer after 
awhile, and then resolved to have that ram if I followed 
him for a year and a day. 

Starting out again, I crawled through the grass, wrig- 
gled past rocks, and craned my neck until it ached, and 
finally reached a shelter from which I could see the horns 
once more. Taking a most deliberate aim at the lowest 
portion of them visible, I fired ; and not hearing any noise 



THE BIG-HORN, OR 310UNTAIN SHEER 409 

after the report, I concluded I was successful that time, 
and felt delighted accordingly. Advancing boldly, I saw 
my tough old brave lying on the ground, and, seizing him 
joyously by the horns, I turned the head round to have a 
look at his grizzled features ; but I had no sooner done so, 
than he scrambled to his feet, and giving me a dig in the 
stomach that doubled me up, and sent me sitting, in the 
most violent manner, on some of the sharpest stones I ever 
remember resting upon, scampered away, and vanished be- 
hind a huge bowlder like a spectre. 

I sat on the ground for a short time after the bump, in 
order to practise a few wry faces; then arose calmly and 
deliberately ; and after indulging in a few orisons ! for the 
welfare of the onus, and rubbing myself vigorously, I seized 
my rifle, and strode forward with the most determined 
idea of making that ram pay dearly for so unceremoni- 
ously offering me such a seat, and causing me to practise 
shampooing when there was no necessity for it. I was 
fully resolved to have him at the next shot, even if he bore 
an enchanted life ; so I put my teeth together and grasped 
the rifle firmly in my hand. On rounding the bowlder be- 
hind which he had disappeared, I scanned the rocks around 
me, but I could see nothing of him. This was another sur- 
prise and disappointment; for I knew he was so severely 
wounded that he could not run very far without being 
compelled to lie down and rest. Supposing he had headed 
for the mountain, I moved forward ; but I had not gone 
twenty paces before I saw him lying, face downward, be- 
hind a few shrubs, and as dead as a door nail. My work 
was over then ; all disappointments had vanished like 
magic; and the memory of the stomach-ache and the 
rocky seat only remained; but these were atoned for by 
making a chair of the ram for a time. After a short rest, 
I made a drag of a bough, and hauled my victim down the 
mountain-side as proudly as if I had captured several hun- 
dred. This feeling was the result of youthful exuberance 
and inexperience, and was probably natural; so I only re- 
fer to it now to merely say that one hard-won success is 

18 



410 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

more highly prized than many won with ease. It is no 
easy matter at any time to bag a big-horn, unless circum- 
stances are unusually favorable ; but I never saw one which 
gave me as much trouble to capture as this one, so it re- 
mains indelibly marked in my memory. 

When I reached my companion I found he had cached 
all the animals, as he did not know when I would return, 
and he feared to leave them to the mercies of bears or 
wolves. As we did not expect to be able to find any more 
sheep until evening, when they would come out to graze, 
we decided upon returning home; as we had been more 
successful than the most sanguine could have anticipated, 
and we cared more for sport than the pot. It is always 
a difficult matter to make a big bag of sheep, owing to 
their inaccessible haunts, and their timidity and vigilance, 
especially in regions where they are hunted much; so we 
were not a little pleased with our good-fortune. We at- 
tributed it, however, to the abundance of the animals, the 
excellence of the ground for stalking them, and the fact 
that they were not hunted much, rather than to any excel- 
lence on our own part; for I have known some of the best 
hunters to tramp hard all day and not kill one, although 
numbers might be roaming over the snow- fields or the 
rocky crests. 

We dined that evening off wild-mutton cutlets; but ex- 
cepting that they had a somewhat gamey flavor, and were 
by no means succulent, they tasted like flesh of the do- 
mestic species. In hunting over that region afterward we 
used mongrel dogs, and found them excellent adjuncts in 
the chase ; as they would not only run, but attack, the big- 
horns, or hold them at bay until we got within shooting 
range. They were not strong enough to kill the animals 
alone, and they had a wholesome fear of the head appen- 
dages, but they were very useful in more ways than one. 
I should fancy that trained dogs would be found of great 
advantage in sheep-hunting, but my experience is not ex- 
tensive enough to form an opinion on the matter. 

One of the most interesting and successful excursions 



THE BIG-HORN, OR MOUNTAIN SHEER 411 

after sheep that I ever enjoyed came off in the snow-capped 
War Eagle Mountains, in Idaho. Being full of small cir- 
cular valleys that teem with graminaceous verdure, and are 
watered by numerous streams, this chain affords an ideal 
residence for the lordly big-horn ; and that its advantages 
are appreciated is evident from the large number that fre- 
quent it at all seasons. The party which I accompanied 
consisted of three sturdy miners, a sporting merchant, and 
a captain in the cavalry who was enjoying a short vaca- 
tion. The miners were experienced tramps and veteran 
Nimrods, having often been compelled to depend on their 
rifles for food while out on prospecting tours; so we left 
the provisioning of the detachment and the selection of the 
route entirely to them. 

Starting out from a mining hamlet early in the morn- 
ing, the evening of the same day found us encamped at the 
base of the mountains ; and, as we had to be astir before 
dawn, we retired to our hard couch on the ground quite 
early in the evening. Long before the sun began to ap- 
pear above the eastern peaks the next morning, we were la- 
boriously clambering up steep ascents or picking our way 
through cavernous precipices, whose gloomy walls recalled 
most forcibly the Plutonic regions. 

By five o'clock we had reached an altitude of four thou- 
sand feet, according to the aneroid ; and there the princi- 
pal guide informed us we were to remain while he went in 
search of " signs." He returned in about half an hour, and 
stated that he had discovered a flock of a dozen or more a 
furlong above us, but that we should be compelled to make 
a wide detour to get to their lee, in order to approach them 
undetected. Our hearts beat wildly at this piece of good 
news — at least mine did ; so we examined our rifles care- 
fully and saw that they were perfectly clean and properly 
loaded. I was armed with a Winchester rifle, which cai'- 
ried several bullets in the magazine, and I was resolved to 
shoot them all at one animal rather than permit it to es- 
cape. At the command we moved forward, and, after an 
hour's severe struggling, approached the flock to within 



412 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE EAR WEST. 

three hundred yards, under shelter of some gigantic bowl- 
ders of basalt, without being discovered. 

To shoot from that distance would be risking too much, 
yet we could get no closer without revealing ourselves to 
the sentinels, who lifted their heads every few moments 
to survey the landscape. As they were feeding toward us, 
we concluded to wait their nearer approach; but the min- 
utes dragged heavily, and each moment seemed a torture. 
After waiting patiently for about half an hour, though it 
seemed treble that time, four sheep and three rams ad- 
vanced about a hundred yards farther, and, as our impa- 
tience was becoming unbearable, the guide allowed us to 
fire. This was a joyous moment, and we resolved to profit 
by it. Each selected his quarry, and at a signal all fired 
simultaneously. When the smoke cleared away, great was 
our joy to behold three males and one ewe stretched upon 
the ground, and two sheep leaping wildly about as if badly 
wounded. Rushing from our place of concealment, we de- 
livered several shots in rapid succession at the now thor- 
oughly alarmed flock, which were making for the rocky 
summit at a breakneck pace ; but the excitement having 
somewhat unstrung our nerves, the fusillade brought us 
only one yearling, which seemed too dazed to break away 
with the others. 

We followed the retreating flock up the steep mountain- 
side, but found in a short time that the old proverb of a 
stern chase being a long one was especially true in this 
case, so we relinquished it in about half an hour. Know- 
ing that two sheep were severely wounded, by the manner 
in which they acted, and having failed to discover them 
among those that escaped, we deployed and commenced 
searching in every direction for some trails of blood. It 
being a characteristic of this species to head for the moun- 
tains under all possible circumstances, we moved toward 
the summit, but, after working for an hour, we could find 
no trace of them. We then returned to our slain quarries, 
and, cutting them open, made a cache in a small fir-tree and 
placed them upon it, to prevent their being unceremonious- 



THE BIO-HORN, OR MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 413 

ly appropriated by some prowling bear or cougar. This 
important duty finished, we resumed our exploration for 
the wounded animals, and in less than a minute came upon 
a trail that plainly indicated the severity of their injuries, 
as the blood formed a miniature stream in some places. 

Following that for half a mile, we came to a deep, broad 
chasm, and down this we clambered, or rather stumbled, for 
we were sliding more frequently than walking. Reaching 
the bottom, we found that one of the sheep had followed 
its course upward and the other down, so a party went in 
each direction. I was with the latter, and was fortunate 
enough to get a shot at a cougar that was quietly prepar- 
ing to make a meal off one of the wounded animals, which 
it had captured and slain. I don't know whether I hit it 
or not ; but I am thoroughly sure I scared it a little, from 
the way in which it dashed through the canyon. It cer- 
tainly acted as if it had forgotten something lower down, 
and was in the greatest possible hurry to get it. The 
sheep on which it was preparing to feast was little injured, 
it having had only time to cut the throat before it had or- 
ders to leave. Making a litter of two fallen boughs, we 
placed the slain creature upon it, and in this way managed 
to get it to the upper world. The other party were un- 
successful in their search ; but as we could claim one ani- 
mal for each member of the expedition, we did not repine 
much at their ill-luck. Leaving this spot, we moved ob- 
liquely to the left and upward in quest of more game, and, 
after travelling two or three miles, came suddenly upon a 
flock of twenty or thirty; but before we could recover 
from our surprise they were dashiug away. We fired at 
random, little expecting any result from it; but we were 
fortunate enough to get a splendid male, which was hit 
right on the skull, and one ewe. This piece of good- 
fortune we attributed more to the numbers of the flock 
rather than to any marksmanship ; so we felt little pride 
in our achievement, for no one could tell who killed the 
animals. 

Our experience of the morning having taught us the fol- 



414 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

ly of a direct pursuit, we stored the game, and moved on 
along the original line of route. We had not proceeded 
more than a mile before we met another flock ; but, as they 
were on the opposite side of a precipice, we could not ap- 
proach them undetected. They were at least five hundred 
yards away; and knowing we could have little chance of 
killing any at that distance, we concluded to test the range 
and accuracy of our rifles upon them. Selecting a huge 
crag for a shelter, one of the miners fired, but his bullet 
passed over them. Another tried it, and he planted the 
ball directly in their midst. This seemed to arouse them ; 
as they all jumped from the ground at the unusual appari- 
tion, then stared wildly about. Several more bullets were 
then sent among them ; but, instead of attempting to run 
away, they only began to stare and jump, and dance a 
queer sort of jig as the balls whistled over, or tore up the 
ground beside them. One at length got struck somewhere 
near the flank, and that caused it to think the locality dis- 
agreeable, if not dangerous; so it gave a startled jump and 
dashed away, closely followed by the others. As they were 
moving off, we saw a sturdy ram hastily run up the preci- 
pice and bound after them. We could not understand why 
the flock waited to be shot at several times, but the un- 
expected presence of this veteran soon gave the proper 
explanation. It was his privilege, apparently, to lead all 
movements; and being absent in the canyon, perhaps for 
the purpose of allaying his thirst, his charge did not know 
what to do without him ; but, like all sheep, when one 
moved the remainder followed, without thinking of the 
ceremony of waiting for the commands of the chief. If we 
did not reap much profit from this bit of shooting, we en- 
joyed a good share of quiet amusement; for it was quite 
ludicrous to see the heavy-horned creatures give a startled 
bound, then gaze stupidly about in search of the cause of 
their annoyance. Having been more successful than the 
most sanguine could have expected, we concluded to return 
to camp with our spoils, as the hot August sun was becom- 
ing disagreeably intense, and it was so late in the morning 



THE BIG-HORN, OR MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 415 

that we could scarcely hope to meet any more sheep until 
the cool breeze of the evening appeared. 

On reaching our caches, we made a drag of the heaviest 
fir and pine boughs we coald break off by our united 
weight, and, placing the game on this, we hauled it down 
the mountain without any very laborious efforts. 

Arrived at camp, those unused to the heavy climbing of 
the day were soon so stiff as to be scarcely able to move; 
but the rugged miners seemed to consider it a mere noth- 
ing, and laughed heartily at the "drawing-room hunters." 
The success of the expedition had been so great, however, 
that they condescended to say that the "drawing-room 
hunters " were not bad shots. I have been out among big- 
horns frequently since then, but never did I see such good- 
luck attend a large party the first clay. 

That evening, while discussing the merits of wild-mutton 
cutlets and the contents of a couple of bottles of " Chateau 
Lafitte," the principal guide related an adventure which be- 
fell him on the first occasion that he had hunted big-horns 
on the scene of our morning's exploits. He and a compan- 
ion, who were " chums," in prospecting for gold, being out 
of meat, concluded to kill some mountain sheep, not having 
any other means of procuring it, as there were no settlers 
in that section of the country at the time except a few min- 
ers. The Indians, who had been very troublesome in other 
quarters of the territory, had let them alone, and from this 
they supposed that there were none anywhere near them. 
In an hour after starting they came upon a flock of big- 
horns, and killed two fine ewes ; and while engaged in pre- 
paring them, another flock suddenly appeared on the op- 
posite side of a chasm near which they were standing, and 
were preparing to cross it, when they were arrested by the 
foe in front. As they stood still for a few moments, the 
hunters threw themselves on the ground and fired ; but 
simultaneously with the reports of their own rifles came 
others directly behind them, and several bullets passed over 
their heads. Alarmed by this unexpected fusillade, they 
jumped to their feet and leaped behind a crag just in time 



416 



SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



to escape another shower. Looking up, they saw, a short 
distance above them, a party of Indians, in all the hideous- 
ness of war-paint, preparing to fire at them a second time. 
Without waiting to see any more, they discharged their 
rifles at the group and fled at their utmost speed clown the 
mountain-side. The Indians followed in hot pursuit, yell- 
ing like panthers, and sending either a bullet or an arrow 
after them whenever a good opportunity presented itself. 
The fugitives rarely gave them the chance, however, as they 
dodged among the crags, and bowed low when they scur- 





KIVEH SOEVE, MONTANA. 



ried through or past any sheltering bushes. The chase 
lasted for a distance of four miles, when they fortunately 
struck a canyon, and into this they plunged with a sudden- 
ness that nearly carried them to the bottom at one bound. 
Along this they ran with renewed energy, and, in fifteen 
minutes after entering it, were delighted to find that the 
Indians had lost their trail or had been outrun. They 
reached their cabin late in the evening, but, instead of rest- 
ing, they mounted their mustangs and went around among 
the miners, arousing them to the danger that threatened 



THE BIG-HORN, OR MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 417 

them. Being always prepared for warfare, those daring 
fellows were soon armed, and assembled at a common ren- 
dezvous under the command of our guide. They advanced 
against their foes the next morning, and, meeting them at 
the base of the mountain, dispersed them after a few vol- 
leys, which placed one-sixth of their number hors de com- 
bat, while they escaped scathless themselves. This sum- 
mary defeat kept the treacherous red men away from that 
region ever after. 

Thanking the raconteur for his story, we retired to our 
pallet of hay, and early the next morning returned to the 
mining hamlet, where we were received with many congrat- 
ulations on our good-fortune. I have had some adventures 
among the big-horns since then in nearly all sections of the 
North-west, but none which equalled in pleasurable excite- 
ment my introduction to them among the rugged pinnacles 
of the War Ensjle Mountains. 



418 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAlt WEST. 



CHAPTER XV. 

FOXES. 

Foxes very Numerous in the West. — Hunting-clubs. — Various Species 
and Varieties of Foxes. — Difference between the American and the 
European Red Fox. — Size, Color, Characteristics, and Value of Fur of 
the Prairie, Cross, Black, Silver, Swift, and Arctic Foxes.— Difference 
between the Red and the Gray Fox. — The Latter trees, but rarely runs 
to Earth. — A true Woodland Animal. — Its Food. — Is being superseded 
by the Red Species. — The Dwarf or Island Fox. — Lives on Insects. — 
Fearlessness and Numbers. — Cause of its Diminutive Size. — Value of 
Fox-skins in Commerce. 

Foxes are very numerous throughout the West, as many 
a farmer and stock-raiser knows to his sorrow ; but instead 
of utilizing them as objects of the chase, and getting madly 
enthusiastic over the runs they afford, they destroy them 
in a more practical manner by spreading strychnine over 
meat and placing it where it will do most good — by captur- 
ing them in traps made of steel, and by shooting them as 
they take to their familiar run-ways when roused by the 
baying of many mongrels. 

Grand battues are sometimes held, and a section of coun- 
try is then almost cleared of them ; for few can escape the 
circle of hunters that drive them toward a centre, and shoot 
them down as they run about in a bewildered manner, or 
catch them by the neck or tail and knock their heads against 
a tree or a rock. These people have no time to waste on 
sentimental dashes and the music of the hounds, and a 
fox is to them only a midnight assassin that preys on their 
poultry. " Gone away " is not a pleasant sentence to them ; 
as it means that they have lost four or five dollars' worth 
of fur, and that their farm-yard will soon be in mourning 
for defunct fowls, which are considered of more value than 
all the living foxes in the neighborhood. 



FOXES. 



419 



Fox-hunting as carried on in Europe was a favorite 
amusement with the Southern planters before the war, and 
many a genial assemblage followed Reynard all day to the 
music of hounds and horns ; but the loss of their wealth in 
that great struggle has forced them to devote their atten- 
tion to business of late, so that fox-hunting, according to 
the old style, has become almost a memory in some places. 

The establishment of fox-hunting clubs and packs of 
hounds in New York and a few other places may have 









THE FOX. 



some effect on the remainder of the country, and cause 
kennels to be established in various cities; but this does 
not seem very probable at present, at least to any extent, 
as the people are too much absorbed in commercial pur- 
suits to have much time to devote to following Reynard. 
The sport as carried on in Great Britain can hardly become 
general under present conditions, owing to the wooded 
character of the country, and the high and crooked wood- 



4 '20 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

en fences, which are even more dangerous than the stone 
walls of Galway and Roscommon. 

Although there are several varieties of foxes in the coun- 
try, there are really only two distinct species ; and these are 
the common red fox (V. vulgaris), and the gray or Vir- 
ginia fox (the Urocyon cinereo-argentatus of Cones). The 
former is larger than the European species ; it has a short- 
er and more pointed nose; the ears are shorter; the legs 
are not so robust; the eyes are nearer together; the feet 
and toes are more densely furred ; the brush is larger ; and 
the fur is softer, finer, and of a brighter hue. It is equally 
as swift and cunning, and bears out in the most marked 
manner the traditional character of its family. 

One of the principal varieties of this species is the long- 
tailed or prairie fox (V. macrourus), which has a beautiful 
fur and brush, the latter being very hairy ; and the pads of 
the feet are concealed by hairs. This animal has a length 
of from thirty-three to thirty-five inches, while its brush 
often exceeds twenty-two inches. The next is the cross 
fox, variety Decussatus, which is readily recognized by its 
having a dark band along the back, which is crossed by 
another on the shoulder. This has a heavy, long, and 
bushy tail, which gives it a very pleasing aspect. Its skin 
is valued at five dollars in the market. The black fox and 
the silver fox are highly prized for their fur, the peltries 
being worth from twenty-five to fifty dollars. 

The Kitt, or swift fox (V. velox), which is not found 
west of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges, is smaller 
than the red or gray ; its limbs are short and robust, and 
its inner fur is full and close. Its pads are covered with 
hair to such an extent that they are concealed from view. 
Its head is shorter and broader than its specific red con- 
gener, and its ears are also smaller. It has a length of two 
feet or more, and its tail is from nine to eleven inches long. 
It does not, it seems to me, deserve the name it bears for 
speed ; for it cannot, so far as I can judge, excel its larger 
kindred in pace and endurance, and a good fox-hound can 
run it down, with a fair start, as easily as it can its Euro- 



FOXES. 421 

pean congener. It is very prolific, and brings forth from 
four to eight young in its burrow, about the latter end of 
March. • 

The arctic or stone fox (V. lagopus) is very common in 
Alaska and the northern parts of British America. It is 
considered to be the most valuable member of its family 
when attired in its winter coating of white, its skin being 
valued all the way from fifty to two hundred dollars, and 
sometimes more. 

The most common colors of this specimen in summer 
are blue, gray, and white, the former predominating. This 
handsome creature is one of the most prolific of its family, 
its litter often numbering from ten to fourteen youngsters. 
It has been introduced on several of the large islands on 
the Alaska Coast by the Russian American Fur Company, 
and they take excellent care that it is not destroyed with- 
out their consent. Its striking and strange hue seems to 
be a slate color tinged with darkish purple, and this is one 
reason why its fur is so highly prized ; but, besides that, is 
the fact that it is also very fine, soft, and dense, and there- 
fore makes excellent lining for cloaks or beautiful carriage 
robes. In its island home this creature lives on sea-birds 
and their eggs, and the carcasses of seals or fish washed 
ashore by the waves. 

A fox that differs in many ways from its kindred, the 
red species, is the gray or mane-tailed fox. It differs from 
it, in fact, more than the latter does from the wolf. 

The common red fox has a thoroughly canine skull, a 
long muzzle, and a tail uniformly haired : but the gray has 
a comparatively short muzzle, a short and broad head, and 
the brush has a hidden mane of stiff hairs along the upper 
side. While it is as large as the common species, it is 
more stoutly built, and its tail is not so cylindrical. It 
may be readily known by its grayish color, even if a per- 
son did not notice its peculiarity in form, physiognomy, 
and its rounded skull. It is literally a woodland animal, 
for it carefully shuns open ground. Its favorite haunts are 
in the Southern States, but it is very common in California, 



422 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

Oregon, and other Northern wooded regions. It has a 
length of from twenty- seven to thirty inches; its brush 
varies from thirteen to eighteen inches in length ; its ears 
project about two and a half inches above the skull; and 
it has a height of from twelve to fifteen inches. 

It does not burrow like the red fox ; but if it does go to 
earth at all, its den has only one entrance, so that it is easi- 
ly driven out. Its favorite places of concealment are in 
thickets or the hollow of fallen trees ; and, if started from 
these, it seeks safety in rank herbage, or in the densest part 
of the forest. I have hunted it sometimes, but I never saw 
it run to earth, its usual means of escape being to leap on 
an inclined tree and jump from branch to branch. Though 
having no retractile claws, yet it can climb small trunks by 
hugging them much as a bear would, and it can get to the 
topmost branches almost as quickly as a raccoon. 

When pressed by the hounds, it is treed as surely as the 
red fox is run to earth, and is generally brought down 
from its lofty pinnacle with a rifle or shot-gun, as its skin 
is valued at five dollars. The old fable about the fox that 
had a thousand tricks with which to baffle its pursuers, 
while the cat had only one, and that to climb a tree, would 
not hold good on the Pacific slope, for the gray is not 
much behind the felis in its power to get among the 
branches. They tell of a Californian youth who was sent 
to a university in the Atlantic States to complete his edu- 
cation, and who corrected his teacher (a native of Europe) 
in natural history about the ability of the fox to climb. 
" What !" said the irritated tutor ; " do you mean to tell 
me an untruth, and say that a fox can climb a tree?" " It 
ain't an untruth," said the other, " because I've seen him do 
it." The teacher appealed to the class to know if any of 
them had seen such a phenomenon, and they all replied in 
the negative. The daring student was then escorted to the 
president to learn what should be done with him for his 
impertinence, and making the statement he did; but that 
worthy individual, turning to the tutor, said, " I think, Mr. 
P , that in future this young man might help you to 



FOXES. 423 

teach natural history to the class, as he observes for him- 
self; while you accept every statement because it is utter- 
ed by a professor, who probably never saw the animal. 
Now, I have seen gray foxes climb trees myself; so that 
he is right, and you owe him an apology." The crestfallen 
birch-wi elder returned to his duties with a much less exalt- 
ed opinion of himself, but he solaced his pride after awhile 
by telling a friend that he was not supposed to know how 
animals acted in America, being a stranger there ; but he 
was positive that students, presidents of colleges, and foxes 
at least differed from their congeners in any other part of 
the world. 

The creature which caused this dispute is disappearing 
before the advance of population, for, as the forest is clear- 
ed away, it has to seek other quarters to find food and shel- 
ter. It lives almost entirely on birds and small quadrupeds, 
and seems indifferent whether it feasts on a grouse, hare, 
squirrel, wood-rat, or field-mouse. As it recedes from set- 
tlements, its place is taken by the red fox, which finds shel- 
ter convenient to the farm-yard in a deep and tortuous bur- 
row, whence it can make its nightly raids on the poultry. 
It is, therefore, a much greater enemy to the farmer than 
the other; hence every effort is made to exterminate it 
with rifle, trap, and strychnine. 

One of the most curious specimens of the Vulpidw to 
be found on the continent is a variety of the gray fox, 
called the coast, island, and short-tailed fox, and known to 
science as the Urocyon Uttoralis. It is the smallest mem- 
ber of its genus, a full-grown male not being larger than a 
house cat. It resembles the gray or woodland fox in ev- 
ery characteristic except size; but it would seem to have 
been formerly as large as that species, and to have been re- 
duced to its dwarfish proportions through many genera- 
tions of half- starved ancestors. It is found only on the 
islands of San Miguel, Santa Cruz, and Santa Rosa, off the 
coast of Southern California. It lives almost entirely on 
insects, grasshoppers forming the largest portion of its 
food ; yet it sometimes manages to catch a sea-bird, and to 



424 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

enjoy an unusual feast of meat. It also makes a raid on 
the nests of gulls, cormorants, guillemots, and kindred 
birds, but they are generally too cautious to place their 
eggs within its reach, so make their domiciles amidst the 
most inaccessible crags. 

This fox is supposed to have been isolated from the 
main-land by the advancing sea, which covered a large area 
of country, and placed a strait sixteen miles wide between 
its home and the region where pabulum was plentiful. Be- 
ing unable to find any bone-making, nourishing food, its 
remote ancestors began to dwindle gradually in size, until, 
in successive generations, the present limit was reached. 
Were these insect-eating dwarfs transferred to the main- 
land, where food is abundant, their posterity would proba- 
bly regain the original size in the course of years. 

They may now be seen loitering about all day long, turn- 
ing over stones and plants in search of insects, and, when 
found, devouring them with the greatest avidity. Several 
have been dissected, but nothing was found in their stom- 
achs except grasshoppers and kindred insects. Their hab- 
its have been even changed by isolation, for, instead of 
prowling about at night and fleeing from man, they roam 
abroad at all hours, and have no more fear of their human 
foe than they have of a shrub. They will scarcely move 
out of his way in many instances, and they may look up 
into his face with a gaze that expresses curiosity more 
than fear. The reason for this simplicity of nature is that 
man has long been a stranger to them, though he is more 
familiar now, as some persons have occupied the islands as 
sheep-ranges. 

These say that the creatures are perfectly harmless even 
to lambs ; but that would seem to be an open question, as 
it does not look probable that they could have lost all their 
carnivorous propensities by even an insect diet. They are 
so numerous on the islands that a person may meet twenty 
of them in an hour's walk ; and on Santa Cruz Island, 
which has an area of one hundred and fifty square miles, 
they are very abundant. The skins of the adults are often 



FOXES. 425 

lined inside with cactus spines, which enter through the 
fur and become arranged in layers; and so thick are they 
frequently that a knife-blade cannot be inserted between 
them. Some become soft and flexible from age, but others 
are as stiff and hard as if they were in full vigor on the 
plants. 

This species whelps in early summer, and brings forth 
its young in a rocky crevice or a simple burrow, the family 
being generally large. The males range from thirteen to 
seventeen inches in length, and the tail and legs are equally 
small, the latter being very weak. 

While the foxes of the West do not afford sport as their 
European kindred do, yet they form no small part of the 
wealth of the country, as their skins bring good prices, and 
many thousands are sold annually by the trappers and 
hunters. If their total value was placed at $1,000,000 per 
year, it would not, I think, be overstating the matter. 



426 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

HARES. 

Hares.— Their Abundance.— The "Jack Rabbit."— Mark Twain's Opin- 
ion of its Speed.— Marvellous Tales of Pioneers. — What constitutes an 
Oregon Mule.— Coursing - clubs. —California Greyhounds.— Character- 
istics of the Water-hare.— Swims like a Retriever.— How it escapes its 
Pursuers. —The Swamp-hare. —Its Peculiar Appearance. —Measure- 
ments.— The Washington, Prairie, California, Wood, and Sage Hares, 
and the Smaller Varieties.— Peculiar Character of Baird's Rabbit.— The 
Males suckle the Young.— Dissection by a Surgeon.— How Indians and 
Whites capture Hares. 

Hakes are so abundant in the Far West and South-west 
that they are considered nuisances in many sections of the 
country. Their numbers are actually incalculable in sev- 
eral places, and any ordinary shot can easily kill from 
twenty to fifty in a day without much trouble, and in many 
cases he may bag one hundred without travelling more 
than tw T o or three miles. No person who has not been in 
the country can possibly comprehend how profuse they 
are, or how little fear they have of man. I have hunted 
them with a shot-gun ; but I found that after awhile to be 
mere butchery, and was compelled, for the sake of sport, 
to use a rifle, and to try and shoot every one in the head, 
or not consider it a fair kill. When the creatures stand 
within twenty feet or less of you, and look at you as 
though you were no more dangerous than a shrub, it is 
proof positive that man is a stranger to them; yet this I 
have seen frequently. 

The great hare, and the species most characteristic of 
the Far West, is the Lepus callotis, known as the mule 
and the jackass rabbit; yet it is no more a rabbit than 
any of the European hares, for it does not burrow as the 
L. cuniculus of Europe does, nor is it so prolific, neither 



HARES. 



427 



is it cannibalistic in character. It has its " form " amidst 
long grass or thickets, or in the crevices of rocks, and 
produces its young above-ground. Mark Twain, in his 
"Roughing It," has credited this species with unusual 
speed, and describes one as bowling along easily at the 
rate of a mile per minute; but, when startled, to scud 
away at such a pace that it could be heard whizzing 
through the air long after it was out of sight. Strangers 
to the Pacific slope frequently indulge in exclamations of 
surprise on seeing it the first time ; but if they give vent 
to their feelings in the presence of veteran pioneers, they 




' % 



are sure to be stuffed with a lot of marvellous tales about 
its size, fleetness, and the length of its legs and ears. 

An immigrant to Oregon could not find adjectives 
enough, without indulging in expletives, to express his 
surprise at the ungainly aspect of such a hare, but he was 
soon shocked to hear an old hunter assail greenhorns in 
the most vigorous terms for not knowing the difference 
between a hare and a mule. " Why, isn't that a hare?" 
asked the immigrant. "Certainly not," was the response; 
" that's a mule, and any one but a fool from the States 
ousfht to know it." "But no mule can run like that," 



42S SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

said the other. "Oregon mules can," was the answer, "for 
they are sprung from coyotes and Indian mustangs." The 
immigrant looked at the speaker in blank amazement ; but 
when his assertion was gravely backed by other settlers 
present, he could only yield, and say that the Pacific Coast 
did indeed contain many wonders. He wrote a description 
of the new " mule " to an Eastern newspaper under the 
dictation of the pioneer; but, unfortunately for him, the 
journal published it with comments so pointed that he was 
afterward known as the Oregon mule. 

This long- eared creature affords much sport to those 
army officers on the frontier who keep greyhounds, and 
many a pleasant day have I had with it myself both with 
dog and gun. When started it heads for the highest 
ground at once, and manages to lead the hounds a jolly 
run ere it is caught. Notwithstanding its long hind-legs 
and light body, I doubt if it is as swift as the English 
hare; at least I have seen few escape a good brace of grey- 
hounds on open ground ; but I should fancy it had more 
endurance. 

In California, that land of keen sportsmen, its represent- 
ative there is hunted regularly with greyhounds, that being 
the only portion of the United States where a coursing- 
club exists. It is governed by the same rules as similar 
clubs in Great Britain, and its meets are reported with as 
much detail as those held at Altcar. The victorious dogs 
are also made much of, and their progeny commands a 
high price in the market. It is said that dogs imported 
into the country increase in size, speed, and staying power ; 
and if that is the case, it would be worth while to match 
its best representatives against those of Great Britain at 
some important meeting, such as the Waterloo. 

I have heard it stated that English dogs, when first im- 
ported, are beaten, in the majority of cases, by the native- 
bred, but that they improve so rapidly under the influences 
of the invigorating climate, that they are able to render a 
good account of themselves in a short time. 

Notwithstanding its apparently large size, the mule rab- 



HARES. 429 

bit is smaller than the European hare, especially in the 
body. Its enormous ears, often six inches in length, which 
have given it the name it bears, are long and broad, and 
are nearly one-third longer than the head. It has a length 
sometimes, when full grown, of thirty-three inches or more, 
and its hind -legs are very long. Its general color above 
is a yellowish -gray, blotched, and lined with black. The 
upper surface of the tail is black, and, beneath, grayish- 
white ; the legs are ashy, and the tip of the posterior sur- 
face of the ear is black. There is much variation in hue, 
according to age and season, yet no one who has ever seen 
it would mistake it at any time for another species. While 
this creature is seen in almost every character of land be- 
tween the Rocky Mountains and the Cascade Range, yet 
it seems to prefer a rolling country, where hill and vale 
alternate. It is fair eating, and I have often found it a 
most useful addition to a camp larder. 

The opposite to this in every way is the L. aquatietis, 
called in some places the swamp and the water rabbit. 
The latter is the more appropriate name, for it is almost 
amphibious in its habits, and is remarkable for the size of 
its head, compared to its body, and the shortness of its 
ears. The head is very large; the ears are scarcely half 
the length of the head; the hind -feet, which are shorter 
than the head, are pointed, and the claws are uncovered. 
The tail is about the same length as the ears ; the hind-feet 
look slender, owing to the depth of the pads, and they are 
pointed at the toes, instead of being blunt. The shortness 
of the ears and the size of the head give it a peculiar ap- 
pearance, especially as the former are broad and round at 
the apex, and are heavily covered with long hairs. The 
color above is a yellowish-brown, closely lined with black ; 
the sides are grayer ; the tail and legs are a rusty brown ; 
the tail beneath and the abdomen are very white ; and a 
black spot is found on the forehead. The fur is coarse, 
bristly, and harsh, and is of little use in commerce. 

This creature is found principally in the South-western 
States, and is one of their most peculiar fauna. It is rarely 



430 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

seen on high grounds or prairies, but is always found near 
streams or lakes. It takes to the water as readily as a re- 
triever, and may often be seen swimming about in search 
of the water-plants which it loves. When startled by men 
or dogs, it goes for the water at once, and generally escapes, 
as its scent is lost immediately. It is not considered edi- 
ble by hunters, as it is very often attacked by a red bug 
which produces sores, and these soon breed maggots that 
fairly eat it up alive. The male attains a length of twenty 
inches; the tail is nearly three inches long; and the hind- 
feet are from three to over four inches in length. 

The next species allied to this is the true swamp hare 
(L.palustris), whose head and incisors are disproportion- 
ately large. The ears are not more than two -thirds the 
length of the head: the hind- feet are shorter than the 
head ; the toes are pointed, and the nails are visible. This, 
also, is one of the most peculiar of American hares, owing 
to its short and thinly-furred feet, its wide head, and small, 
weak legs, especially the hinder. The tail is short, being 
scarcely half the length of the ear, and the fur is coarse 
and bristly. It changes much in color at various periods, 
but its usual summer coating is a grayish yellow- brown 
above, and a grayish beneath. 

One striking peculiarity between the Western hares is, 
that while the skull of the mule and the large California 
hare is narrow, the width being less than one -half the 
length, that of the others is broad, the width being about 
half the length. The European rabbit [L. cuniculus) would 
seem to be the connecting link between these two classes, 
so far as the form of the skull is concerned, as it occupies 
the medium position. 

One of the largest, if not the largest, hares in the North- 
west is the polar hare (X. glacialus), which is very abun- 
dant in Alaska and portions of British America. Its ears 
are four-fifths the length of the head, and its tail is propor- 
tionately long. It turns completely white in winter; but 
in summer it is a yellowish-brown and gray above, varied 
with black ; and the ears are a glossy black outside. 



HARES. 431 

The L. washingtonii takes the place of the common 
American hare, of which it is a variety, west of the Rocky 
Mountains, and is there very abundant. The ears are 
shorter than the head, but the hind-feet are longer, while 
the tail is very short. The back, sides, and throat are a 
reddish-brown ; the abdomen is pure white ; and the tail 
is a lead color ^above, and a rusty white beneath. It is a 
handsome specimen of its family, and occupies a position 
between the Lepus americanus and the wood hare, L. syl- 
vaticus • but it is readily distinguished from the latter by 
its smaller size and shorter ears, which are reddish exter- 
nally. It turns white in winter. 

The Lepus campestris, or prairie hare, is one of the 
largest of the American Leporidw, and is the only species 
of the long- eared hares that turns white in winter. Its 
ears are about one-fifth longer than the head; the tail is 
as long as the head, and the hind-feet are longer. Its sum- 
mer color is a pale yellowish-gray above, a white beneath, 
and the tail is all white. It attains various degrees of 
weight and length, according to its habitat; but it is no 
unusual event to find one over two feet long, and having 
a tail exceeding five inches, while its weight reaches from 
ten to twelve pounds. 

The California hare {L. califomicus), which is hunted a 
great deal with" greyhounds, is also very large, the ears and 
the hind-feet being longer than the head, while the tail is as 
long. Its color varies much, but in summer it may be said 
to be a bright cinnamon red, mixed with some black, the un- 
der parts being a pale cinnamon. The tail is black above, 
and of a light cinnamon hue below. It attains a length of 
twenty-five inches, and its hind-foot is over five inches long. 

The ubiquitous cotton-tail, or gray rabbit (X. sylvaticus), 
has ears two -thirds the length of the head. It is the 
largest of the short-eared hares, its length often reaching 
eighteen inches, and its weight varying from two to three 
pounds. The coating is of a lead color, the extreme tips 
being a blackish -brown, and the under part of the tail a 
cottony white. 



432 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

The sage rabbit (£. artemisia) is one of the most abun- 
dant species in the West and North-west, and is found in 
immense numbers amidst the so-called sage plains, where 
the artemisia {A. tridentata) prevails ; it may, in fact, be 
counted by the thousands in many places. Indians, wolves, 
foxes, badgers, and other carnivorous animals live on it 
largely in the regions bordering the Columbia River and 
its tributaries, and the former eat it with apparent relish, 
notwithstanding the fact that its flesh has a rank taste, ow- 
ing to the character of its food, which is composed almost 
entirely of the wild sage, purshia, or greasewood, linosyris, 
and kindred shrubs. This disagreeable flavor may be ob- 
literated, however, by "drawing" it the moment it is kill- 
ed, and placing an onion and a piece of lemon in the ab- 
dominal cavity when it is about to be cooked. The man 
who could not eat it then must be fastidious, and anything 
but hungry. 

This creature, which is among the smallest of the hares, 
has ears as long as the head, and its feet are heavily clad 
with fur. Its general color above is a mixed black and 
brownish white; but the hue changes so much in different 
sections that this color cannot be called permanent. It is 
readily known from its haunts, and the way in which its 
feet are furred ; it also turns white in winter. 

Audubon's hare (X. audubonii), which is'confined to the 
Pacific Coast, is smaller than the wood hare. It has long 
ears and short legs, and the tail is from two to three inches 
in length. It is very common in California, but is not 
much thought of as an animal for sport, owing to its size 
and lack of fleetness. The fur is close, and marked with 
black and grayish tips. 

The L. trowbridgii, another California species, has a small 
head, and a tail that is almost rudimentary. The ears are 
as long as the head ; but the hind-legs are unusually short, 
so that its gait resembles a series of jumps more than run- 
ning. In color it is a dark brown above, and a plumbeous 
gray beneath ; it may be readily distinguished from Au- 
dubon's hare by having no black edging on the tip of the 



HARES. 



433 




THE RABBIT WAREE.V. 



ear, in being less of a pure white beneath, and in having 
a shorter tail and hind-feet. It attains a length of from 
twelve to fifteen inches, and a weight of one and a half 
pounds or more. 

One of the most curious species of the Leporidoz found 
in the Far West is the little rabbit or hare known as L. 
bairdii, which is a Rocky Mountain variety of the L. ame- 
ricanus. This seems to be the result of a new departure in 
Nature, or at least a desire to prove that her general laws 
are mutable. The first specimen of this extraordinary 
creature was caught by Dr. Hayden in the Wind River 
Mountains, in June, 1860, but it has since been found from 
Wyoming to nearly the head -waters of the Yellowstone 
River. Five specimens were captured in 1872 by the sur- 
veying party under the professor's charge, and it is from 

19 



434 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

these that the remarkable traits of the creature have been 
discovered. These are, primarily, that all the males have 
teats, and help to suckle the young. This has been assumed 
from the fact that four out of the five specimens captured 
were adult males, that all had large teats full of milk, and 
that the hair around the nipples was wet, and stuck to it, 
showing conclusively that they were nursing the leverets. 
As the party found no females, they thought their captures 
might be a hermaphrodite form; and to judge for them- 
selves the truth of their suspicions, they got Dr. Curtis, one 
of the company, to dissect a large one. He found it to be 
a perfect male in every way; but, to be sure that it was 
not exceptional, he dissected others, and this assured him 
that he was right. Having seen no females, he could only 
say that he supposed both sexes took part in suckling the 
young. The doctor certified this report publicly in Wash- 
ington, by stating that he had carefully examined the speci- 
mens in the field, and found they were males, yet gave ex- 
ternal signs of being suckled. To satisfy himself, he care- 
fully dissected one which was unmistakably marked, and 
found conclusive evidence that it had been suckled for 
some time previous to its death. The milk was abundant 
in the teats, but, excepting this, it had no other characteris- 
tics of the female sex, all the male organs being perfect. 

Those mentioned are, so far as I know, the various spe- 
cies of true hares in the Far West and the South-west, if I 
exclude the common hare (L. americanus), which is abun- 
dant in portions of the country adjoining the Missouri Riv- 
er, and the Texan variety of the jack rabbit. All resemble 
their European congeners in habits; for they feed at night 
principally, have about the same number of young at a lit- 
ter, and, like them, do not burrow. There is not, in fact, a 
specimen of the true rabbit in the country, if I except the 
descendants of the European species that may have be- 
come wild. 

The hares are so profuse that they are shipped by the 
tons to the markets of the Atlantic States, and sold at 
prices so cheap that they could not, apparently, pay for the 



HARES. 435 

ammunition wasted on them. They are hunted in various 
ways in the West. One method is to run them out of cov- 
ert with slow-hounds, and shoot them as they flee past a 
stand ; another is to course them with greyhounds, but this 
affords little sport except with the mule rabbit; and the 
next is to trap or snare them. The latter is the favorite 
means of capturing them with market hunters and Indians, 
for by it thousands are caught in a day sometimes. 

The grand drives of the Piute Indians of Nevada have 
often yielded them from three to ten thousand heads in a 
week ; and had their traps and nets been more perfect they 
could have probably doubled the number. I have shot 
twenty in a day on the sage plains of Idaho, without walk- 
ing two miles, and I could have shot many more if I wish- 
ed to. Hares, or rabbits, as they are called, are in fact so 
abundant that they are nuisances in some places, so that 
the sportsman need have no compunctions of conscience 
about killing: them. 



436 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE RACCOON, OPOSSUM, AND SQUIRREL FAMILIES. 

The Raccoon, Opossum, and Squirrel Families. — Number of Species. — 
How Hunted. — Two Negroes and a Coon Stew. — Best Way of Shoot- 
ing Squirrels. 

Among the smaller game which often afford pleasant 
sport to the lovers of the gun are the above animals, espe- 
cially when pursued with dogs; as they frequently give 
one an exciting run, and the coon struggles bravely against 
its canine foes when captured. The first two are hunted 




TUB RAOOOON. 



principally at night, as they are nocturnal in habits, and are 
generally killed amidst the leafy retreats of trees and shrub- 
bery, where they take refuge. I have seen coon -hunts 
which were scenes of excitement and laughter, and which 
produced more ludicrous situations and mirth -provoking 
incidents than any other sort of sport I ever witnessed. 

There are two species of raccoon in the West, the Pro- 
cyon lotor and the Mexican or black-footed raccoon (Pro- 



RACCOON, OPOSSUM, AND SQUIRREL FAMILIES. 437 

cyon hernandezii), which is found in the regions bordering 
the Pacific Ocean, from British Columbia to Mexico. Both 
are alike in general character, being cunning thieves, nim- 
ble tree-climbers, and one of the most inquisitive, restless, 
and mischievous of pets when domesticated. Nothing is 
safe from them if they break loose in a house, and they try 
to devour everything they can find, from stale bread to 
hair- oil. They are as bad as monkeys; but they differ 
from the latter in the fact that they will obey no order un- 
less it is accompanied by force. 

Adult males weigh from fifteen to twenty pounds, and, 
when cornered, they not only fight bravely, but often 
wound several of their assailants ; for their jaws are large 
and powerful, and their claws are sharp and curved. 

This species brings forth from four to eight young at a 
time, in the hollow of a tree ; and while the mother remains 
with them she is a terror to bull-frogs, fish, and even birds 
and their eggs. She has also the fondness of the bear for 
honey, and will even risk an encounter with a dog to obtain 
it. Both sexes pay much attention to cornfields and or- 
chards, and revel in the milky kernels, or the juicy apples 
and pears. I have frequently hunted a brace of them out 
of an apple-tree, and, when they reached the ground, the 
dogs and themselves generally had it out, unless they gave 
indications of being able to get away, when a shot-gun 
brought them down. Bull-terriers or large Irish terriers 
would be capital dogs for hunting them, as these have the 
combativeness and strength necessary to engage in a fair 
fight with them. For trailing them in the woods, the lat- 
ter would be the better, owing to its keenness of nose and 
endurance, and the readiness with which it learns the hab- 
its of the creatures it pursues. 

The raccoon is hunted principally on moonlight nights ; 
and pleasant sport it is if one is with a jolly party, and 
the dogs are large and brave enough to relish a struggle. 
When the animal is treed, the tree in which it has sought 
refuge is generally cut down ; and should it attempt to es- 
cape it is shot, or is killed by the dogs. 



438 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

The negroes of the South are the greatest coon-hunters, 
and they spend many an hour of the night in the woods 
with dogs and guns to obtain the animal, whose flesh is 
considered by them to be unexcelled in delicacy of flavor. 
Coon-stew is a favorite dish with them; and so highly is it 
prized that I heard a negro preacher say that "Heaven is 
sweeter dan a coon-stew, or cabbage biled wid a hog's back- 
bone." 

As a specimen of how fond they are of it, the whites 
relate an anecdote about two of them who were out until 
morning in search of their beloved game, but captured 
only one. When they returned to the house they were 
very sleepy ; but Jem told Sam that if he Avould sleep for 
awhile and then relieve him, both could have a nice nap 
before the coon, which was in the pot, could be cooked. 
Sam complied with this, and was soon fast asleep and snor- 
ing loudly. As the flesh of the coon began to get digesti- 
ble, the pot- watcher commenced tasting it and drinking the 
soup ; and so interested was he in his work that he forgot 
all about the sleeper, and devoured every bit of the animal. 
When that was done, the fear of the consequences caused 
him a great deal of tribulation, as he did not know how to 
escape from his difficulty. Finally, a bright idea struck 
him, and he carried it into effect at once. He rubbed 
Sam's lips with some fat, placed all the bones and the pot 
in front of him, taking care that a bone was also put into 
his hand, and then retired to rest, conscious of the effica- 
cy of his stratagem. When Sam woke up, he was amazed 
at the condition of affairs, and his huge eyeballs rolled in 
astonishment as he gazed first at the bones, and then at 
his sleeping companion. He, at length, became both be- 
Avildered and angry, and laying his hand heavily on the 
shoulder of the sleeper, yelled out, " Come, Jem, none ob 
you foolin' wid dis chile ; what's you done wid de coon ?" 

Jem stared at him with a look of blank surprise, and 
said, "Why, Sam, is you crazy? Dat coon? why you eat 
it all up in you sleep, and you wouldn't gi' me a moufful 
when I axed it, 'cause you said you was asleep." 



RACCOON, OPOSSUM, AND SQUIRREL FAMILIES. 439 

" Go way now, Jem, none ob you foolin' wid me ; I want 
my shae ob dat coon." 

"Why," said the other, " dere's all de bones and de pot 
befo' you, and dere's you mouf all smead wid de fat, and 
now you say how I eat it !" 

Sam felt his mouth, and finding that it was besmeared, 
he became calm, and begged pardon for his suspicions ; 
but, placing his hand on his very empty stomach, he said, 
" I say, Jem, I s'pose I did eat dat coon ; but it was the 
smallest and worsest one I eber seed, for I don't feel him 
here a bit." Jem was so delighted with his stratagem 
that he told it to his friends, and the result was that he 
and Sam soon dissolved partnership in coon-stews. 

The opossum, which is the only member of the marsu- 
pials indigenous to North America, is found all over the 
South and South-western States, and extends into Southern 
California and Arizona. It has a total length of about 
three feet, and of this the tail takes up fifteen or sixteen 
inches. Its hair being white, with brownish tips, gives it 
a pale grayish color. It has rather a rat-like appearance 
— a resemblance which is increased by its long, round, and 
prehensile cauda. 

The darkies are the great enemies of this little creature, 
also, and hunt it through woods, brakes, and briers, with 
mongrel dogs that have been trained to the chase. Per- 
simmon thickets are favorite places for a meet, as the ani- 
mal is very fond of this acrid fruit, and frequents its vicin- 
ity during the night. When the dogs have started the 
wily 'possum they run it up a tree or sapling, and there 
they remain and yelp until the colored Nimrods arrive on 
the scene in a state of breathless excitement. When the 
'possum's position is known, some one climbs to its retreat 
and knocks or shakes it down, when the dogs finish it in a 
few moments. Its flesh is highly prized by the negroes, 
and they would travel far to obtain it. There is much fun 
to be gleaned from one of their hunts, as they get wild 
over the baying of the dogs, and indulge in the most gro- 
tesque remarks about their capture. 



440 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

Squirrels may be counted by the millions in the West 
and South-west, there being some twelve or fourteen spe- 
cies of the Sciurus, about the same number of the Spermo- 
philes, or ground-squirrels, four of the Pteromys, or flying 
squirrels, four of the Tamias, or striped squirrels, and two 
species of prairie-dogs — the common and the short-tailed. 
Add to these the Arctomys, or ground-hog, and the showtl 
(Aplodontia leporina), and it will be seen that small game 
is abundant enough. 

Although these creatures seem to be created for the spe- 
cial purpose of feeding the larger carnivora, yet they form 
no small portion of the food of the wandering Indians. I 
have spent some pleasant hours in shooting them with ar- 
rows, and my captures were eagerly sought by hungry war- 




T11E SQUIKEEL. 



riors, or by chiefs with fierce -sounding names. The red 
men coax the little animals out of their burrows by chirp- 
ing with the lips ; and as soon as they appear at the en- 
trance, to learn what the strange sound signifies, an arrow 
is sent twanging into their skull with a force that sends it 
through from side to side. 

To hunt wood-squirrels successfully, small curs or terri- 
ers ought to be used ; for the moment they tree one of the 
nimble creatures they announce it by sharp yelps, and if a 
person is any sort of a shot he may then bring it down 
from its leafy covert. If the squirrels are any way plen- 
tiful, one may bag a large number by quietly sitting on a 
tree-stump and shooting them as they scurry past, for they 
take little notice of a man if he is not moving about. They 



RACCOON, OPOSSUM, AND SQUIRREL FAMILIES. 441 

are used for food in some portions of the "West by the 
whites, and are seldom absent from the bill of fare of game 
dinners given by sporting-clubs, and even by private per- 
sons. I have eaten squirrels frequently, and I can say that 
they are much better eating than persons give them credit 
for. The ground - squirrels are such nuisances in some 
places that the farmers have been compelled to resort to 
every means to get rid of them ; but now, fortunately, some 
enterprising men have discovered a poison so subtle and 
cheap that it only costs ten cents to clear them off an acre 
of land, while the poisoners realize a handsome sum from 
the skins, these being their perquisites. 



442 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

FUR ANIMALS. 

Haunts, Habits, and Mode of capturing the Wolverene, Mink, Fisher, 
Marten, Ermine, Musk-rat, Skunk, Badger, Land and Sea Otter, Fur- 
seal, Beaver, and Showtl. — An Unpleasant Adventure while after Fur- 
seals. — Enormous Destruction of Fur Animals. — Latest Statistics. 

Although the greater number of the animals known by 
this name in the West are not game, in the ordinary sense 
of the word, yet they form so important an article in the 
commercial world, and are sought after so much by some 
sportsmen, that I have assumed that a little information 
about them might be acceptable to those who wished to 
trap them, or to shoot a few for the purpose of making a 
robe or a mat. Another reason for introducing them is, 
that some of them are comparatively little known to the 
general reader, and that they possess characteristics which 
make them interesting to those who have a taste for natu- 
ral history. 

As all the Mustelklce are known as fur animals, I men- 
tion them first, and place at their head the wolverene {Gulo 




THE WOLVERENE. 



luscus), whose mythical qualities have made it famous 
among hunters and trappers, and even caused grave nat- 
uralists to endow it with characteristics it never possessed. 



FUR ANIMALS. 443 

This fabulously gifted creature receives its technical name 
from its supposed gluttonous qualities; and while it is true 
that its appetite is worthy of a gourmand, it is by no means 
so great as some persons have asserted. 

The statements of old naturalists that it generally ate so 
much that its abdomen became swollen to such an extent 
that it passed between two trees y close together, to reduce 
its dimensions into something like decent proportions, is 
on a par with their assertions that it killed a deer by climb- 
ing a tree and dropping a piece of moss before it, and when 
the latter stopped to eat the tempting morsel, pounced 
quickly on its back and destroyed it in a moment; or those 
uttered by old trappers that no bullets could kill it, as it 
spat them out the moment they entered the body, and that 
no man could approach it unless he had the medicine bag of 
a great Indian chief about his person. The tales told about 
its courage, cunning, daring, and nonchalance are indeed 
numerous in the North-west ; but it is hardly necessary to 
state that while some of them are founded on a substratum 
of fact, the greater number have no stronger basis than the 
imagination of superstitious and often ignorant trappers, 
and their congeners, the half-breeds and Indians. 

The animal whose fabulous characteristics have made it 
so famous looks like a small and clumsy bear-cub, though 
its gait is not so plantigrade as that of Bruin. It has 
strength without activity, courage without caution, and en- 
ergy without apparent motive; but it has so many other 
excellent qualities that these seem to be only the negative 
sides. It is certainly ungainly in appearance: the body 
being thick and rather long; the legs thick and short; the 
back arched, and higher than the head or rump ; the eyes 
very small and wide apart; the ears low; the head broad, 
with a short, pointed muzzle ; and the tail being drooping, 
of medium length, and very bushy. The feet are large for 
its size, and unusually furry, but the balls of the digits are 
naked. In color it is a dusky brown, with a perceptible 
band of yellowish-brown along the sides. The under parts, 
tail, and legs are blackish ; and the claws are white, curved, 



444 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

sharp, and strong. It has an average length, excluding the 
tail, of about twenty-six inches, while the tail ranges from 
twelve to fourteen inches. 

Like its family in general, it is not very odorous when 
aroused by anger, as it secretes a fluid in the anal glands 
which is very disagreeable when discharged. It is an ar- 
rant thief in character, and neither traps nor caches are 
safe from its depredations ; it will even steal the most use- 
less articles, and hide them with the cunning of a profes- 
sional burglar. Camps and cabins are rifled in the most 
careful manner by this kleptomaniac during the absence of 
the proprietors, and what it cannot eat it destroys or con- 
ceals. It is caught very frequently in steel -traps or in 
dead -falls made of large logs, the bait being generally a 
piece of meat or some small animal, such as a rat or a 
squirrel, which has been sprinkled with castoreum. It is 
one of the greatest enemies the trapper has, as it will fol- 
low a line of marten traps for fifty miles, should they 
extend that distance, and devour all the captives. The 
young, which generally number four or five at a time, are 
brought forth in burrows, and while these are sucking the 
mother is seldom seen ; but should she be encountered, she 
would fight as courageously as any animal living in de- 
fence of her cubs. 

The fur of this creature is so highly prized for carriage 
robes that professional trappers consider themselves fort- 
unate if they can get a few peltries, as they bring good 
prices, generally from four to ten dollars each. These men 
say that it will scatter its excretions over all food it may 
have concealed, to prevent other animals from touching it; 
and so fetid are these in scent that even a starving wolf 
will not approach any object under their protection. 

The wolverene is probably one of the most ferocious an- 
imals known, when attacked or wounded, and, for its size, 
it is also one of the strongest — a fact which may be infer- 
red from the ease with which it will pull down a disabled 
deer. It is not only brave but daring; for it will boldly 
enter a cabin when hungry, and fight, if forced to it, for 



FUR ANIMALS. 445 

anything edible in the house. It has been known to ran- 
sack cabins while the inmates were absent, and to steal ev- 
erything in them that was at all portable, and to bm - y it 
deep in the ground. Such caches are often found by the 
odor of the excretions, as these are strong enough to be 
smelled several feet away. 

The many tales told of its boldness, courage, and cun- 
ning prove that it is one of the shrewdest animals on the 
continent, and one of the most difficult to capture; for, if 
old trappers are to be relied on, it steals the bait from be- 
hind out of the traps, so that it avoids all danger. In or- 
der to catch it, the traps have to be covered with boughs, 
so as to make them resemble a cache as much as possible, 
and the natural propensity of the creature then induces it 
to steal whatever that contains. No clumsy contrivance 
will do to catch it, however, and if the trap be of steel, and 
it is not well fastened, the wolverene will probably walk 
away with it. 

The animal will, it is said, shade its eyes with its paws 
on seeing a man approaching it from the leeward, and gaze 
at him intently until he draws quite near ; and it will then 
either retreat or show fight, according to its disposition. 
It does not climb trees or hibernate, and its ordinary food 
is small animals, or such offal as it may find. It is, on the 
whole, one of the most interesting creatures in the country, 
and possesses an individuality of character which none of 
its allies can boast. It is probably the greatest enemy the 
fox has ; as it will open up the burrows of the latter and 
devour the cubs, and their parents, if convenient, in the 
most ravenous manner. It is as destructive to Reynard 
and all his offspring as the latter is to the denizens of the 
farm-yard, and the result is that it destroys many young 
foxes in the course of the year. 

Its allies of the Mustelinoe, are very numerous in some 
portions of the North-west — a fact that is evident from 
the large number of peltries sold annually in Europe. The 
greater portion of these are purchased for the French, Ger- 
man, and Russian markets, where furs are largely worn, 



\ 

446 SI'ORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

the finest quality being generally shipped to the latter 
country. Of these the mink, marten, and fisher are the 
most important, and they are followed by the musk-rat, 
polecat, and badger. These animals are nearly all caught 
in steel traps, or in garrotes or wooden dead-falls ; and it 
is anything but pleasant to approach some of them, espe- 
cially the mink {Pidorius vison), as it emits an effluvium 
which is only exceeded in foulness by that of the skunk. 
This has its use, however, for trappers employ the fluid to 
scent baits, in order to make them more efficacious. The 
mink is very abundant where rivers are few, as it then 
keeps in colonies, and is not so widely dispersed as when 
the streams are common. I have seen dozens of these 
creatures within a distance of two miles in some portions 
of the North-west, but I found it of little use to try and 
shoot them in the water, as they dived on seeing the flash 
of the gun, and even when hit they sunk; so that I could 
not secure them without more trouble than they were 
worth. 

The best means of capturing them is to build a small en- 
closure of stones in shallow, rippling water, and place the 
trap near its entrance, the bait being farther in, and well 
saturated with mink odor; and the animals, in trying to 
get that, are almost sure of putting their leg or head in the 
trap. If they are only caught by the leg they often gnaw 
that away above the jaws of the trap and escape, as they 
have strong vital power, and the pluck and furious temper 
of their family. 

They are as aquatic as the beaver, and spend most of 
their time in the water, being to that element what the 
weasel is to the land. They feed on rats, mice, the marsh 
hare, birds, fish, crustaceans, and other denizens of the 
swamps and streams, and they seem to excel all other ani- 
mals in their attachment to frog dinners. The mink, when 
tamed, is a pleasant pet about the house, and is a far better 
ratter than the domestic cat, but its odor is somewhat 
against it as a companion. 

The fisher, or black cat (M. pennantii),'\s found in near- 



FUR ANIMALS. 447 

ly all the mountain ranges of the West, and is quite com- 
mon in many places. Though called a fisher, it is not 
aquatic in habits, but is thoroughly arboreous, its favorite 
haunts being the dense and damp woods adjoining water, 
and in this it differs from the marten, which prefers the 
driest parts of the forests of evergreens. It receives its 
name from the fact that it destroys fish found in traps, but 
it never angles for itself, as the mink does, and it seems to 
prefer meat to fish. It travels much at night in search of 
its prey, which includes everything from field-mice to squir- 
rels ; and as it fights fiercely, it is often able to kill animals 
larger than itself. Its length varies from twenty-four to 
forty inches, excluding the tail, which ranges from twelve 
to twenty inches, and its weight sometimes reaches from 
fourteen to eighteen pounds, so that it ranks next to the 
glutton in size. It is very destructive to marten traps, be- 
ing almost as bad as the wolverene, and this causes hunters 
to execrate its presence, unless it gets trapped itself — an 
event which does not occur as often as they wish ; for, be- 
ing strong and plucky, it can tumble down dead-falls, and 
even get away with a steel-trap unless it is well fastened 
with an iron chain. Its skin is valued at from one to two 
dollars in the West, but it brings much more than that 
sum in the market. It is highly prized by some of the In- 
dian tribes for making arrow quivers, as it is showy, long, 
and durable. The fisher has from two to four young ones 
at a time, and they are brought forth in the hollow part of 
a tree. 

The American sable, or pine marten (Mustela ameri- 
cana), is abundant where settlements are scarce, as it is 
very prolific, its family generally numbering six or eight 
at a time. It is well able to live in its forest home, for, 
though not so insatiably blood-thirsty as the weasel, yet it 
is exceedingly destructive to birds and small mammals, so 
that it manages to secure plenty of pabulum at all times. 

An adult male has a length of about eighteen inches, ex- 
cluding the bushy tail, which is about ten or twelve. Its 
fur, which is in the best condition from November to April, 



448 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

is often over an inch in depth ; but it differs in quality, 
some portions of it being finer and longer than others. 
Large numbers of this animal are captured annually in steel- 
traps and wooden dead-falls, the traps sometimes extending 
for a distance of forty or fifty miles in a certain direction, 
and numbering sevei*al to the mile. The bait consists sim- 
ply of a bit of meat, a bird's head, or even a field-mouse ; 
for it seems to have an appetite for all things edible, from 
insects to eggs and rats. 

Like its congeners, it emits a strong effluvium at will, 
but it is not so strong as that of the skunk or mink. This 
creature is thoroughly arboreous in its habitat; hence it is 
seldom found in clearings or near settlements, so that it 
does little harm to the poultry-yard. It is an expert climb- 
er, most active worker, and a shrewd little creature in many 
ways ; and, were it not for its odor, it would make an amus- 
ing house- pet. Its fur is in such active demand that it 
meets a ready sale; and this causes trappers to capture it 
in large numbers during the winter. 




The stoat, or ermine (Putorius erminea), is very common 
in Alaska and British America. This graceful, untiring, 
brave, and destructive creatine has four or five young ones 
at a time, their birthplace being generally the hollow of a 
log, a tree, or a rocky cavity. The stoat certainly deserves 
its technical name, for, when aroused by anger or sexual 
passion, it emits a vile odor which is almost unbearable; so 
that it is no wonder that rats and ground-squirrels flee be- 
fore it in terror, as, omitting its fierce and destructive na- 
ture, which induces it to kill even when there is no neces- 



FUR ANIMALS. 



449 



sity for it, the stench alone which it exhales is enough to 
make its superiors in physical strength scamper away from 
it. It roams abroad principally at night, but it is also often 
out in the daytime. 

This creature has a total length of about fourteen inches; 
and its fur, which is soft, thick, and fine in the Northern 
latitudes, becomes white in winter, when it is in the best 
condition for the market. This is a favorite fur on the 
Continent for several purposes ; hence it is nearly always 
in active demand. There are two or three other species of 
the weasel in the country, but they amount to little in the 
fur market. 




MUSQUASH, OE AMERICAN MTTBK-RAT8. 



Of the musk-rat, polecat, and badger little need be said, 
as they are well known. The former is amphibious; the 
second is famous for its destructive character, courage, and 
perfume bag ; and the third is notorious for its combative- 
ness and its nocturnal habits. The skin of the skunk is 
now becoming so popular that thousands of this animal 
are killed annually, to supply the increasing demand. The 
sooner they are all made into robes the better will the 
Western pioneers like it; for not only is the creature of- 



450 



SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



fensive to the nose and the farm-yard, but its bite is often 
attended with fatal results, the symptoms it produces being 
similar to those attending an attack of hydrophobia. 




THE BADGER. 



The badger is so common in some portions of the West 
that its burrows cover a large area of country ; and it is so 
numerous that it is dangerous to gallop a horse in some 
places. As this animal seldom travels abroad in the day- 
time, it is a rare thing to see one ; but should a person 
meet it accidentally, and try to head it off from its burrow, 
it would probably pay no heed to his presence, and attempt 
to enter, nolens volens, though he might keep kicking it. 

I have routed it out sometimes with terriers, and some- 
times by pouring water into its burrow ; but as a game or 
a fur animal I could not see much in it to make its pursuit 
pleasant; though it may be profitable to trap, as its fur is 
in active demand for making the cheaper class of goods. 
It is usually caught with a No. 3 trap. This animal roams 
to a high altitude on the mountains, often to a height of 
seven or eight thousand feet, but its favorite habitat is the 
treeless plains, where ground-squirrels are abundant. 

The land-otter is increasing in numbers in some of the 
regions bordering the Pacific Ocean, owing to the cessa- 
tion there of trapping, at least to any extent ; but it is 
rapidly decreasing in other sections of the country, es- 



FUR ANIMALS. 451 

pecially where the fur companies have depots. The sys- 
tem of capturing it varies in different quarters ; but, as a 
rule, the idea is to conceal a steel-trap in or near the water 
in places which it is known to frequent, and these are 
readily detected by the slides which it makes down an 
embankment to a stream or a lake. 

The American otter differs from the European in a few 
minor details. It is larger, has a shorter tail, and the fur 
of the abdomen is as glossy as that of the back. The fur 
is very fine, and somewhat waved, and in summer it is short 
and nearly black, but in winter it turns to a handsome red- 
dish-brown. It resembles that of the beaver in character, 
but seems shorter. The length of an adult is about five 
feet, and the tail about eight inches. It is seldom seen 
during the day, yet I have had a shot at one early in the 
morning and toward sunset. Shooting it is of little use, 
however ; for, unless it is on land, the probability is that 
it will sink in the water and be lost. Trapping it is there- 
fore the only reliable method of capturing it, to make its 
skin useful in commerce. This animal has one litter of 
young in a year, and they are brought forth in a burrow 




close to the water about the month of April. Were it 
hunted with otter hounds it would afford capital sport, as 
it is almost as common as the beaver in many places. 

The connecting link between the preceding animal and 
the seal family seems to be the sea-otter (Enhydra marina), 
whose habitat extends from Alaska to California. This 
lover of boisterous waves is probably the most valuable 
fur animal known, its skin being worth from forty to ninety 



452 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

pounds sterling in the London market, according to its 
size and condition. The latter price is paid only for the 
largest size and the finest quality — those which show the 
whitish or silvery hairs scattered through the denser black 
or blackish-brown. 

This beautiful creature resembles its congener of the 
rivers and lakes in outline, but differs from it in some par- 
ticulars. Its forepaws are larger and stronger, and the 
webbed hind-feet are covered with a thick coarse hair, so 
that its web is not like that of the beaver. It possesses 
most formidable teeth, the grinders being round, broad, 
and thick, to enable it to crush bivalves and other hard 
substances with facility. It lives entirely on the marine 
denizens of the sea, but its favorite food seems to be the 
larger species of fish. 

Though rarely found on land, except when it visits some 
wild and wave-lashed rocky islet to produce its young, yet 
it is sometimes seen near the shore in salt-water inlets, and 
is then readily caught by cutting off its retreat to the sea 
by means of boats or canoes, and forcing it shoreward. 
Being exceedingly timid, it is readily alarmed, and dives 
immediately on seeing any strange object approaching it 
in the water; hence it is rather difficult to capture. 

It sleeps in the water, generally on its back ; and if the 
female has her cubs with her, she may, on awaking from 
her slumber, play with them in the most affectionate man- 
ner, now holding them aloft in her paws, then rolling over 
and under the waves with them in the most sportive way 
imaginable. This animal generally travels in families, it 
being rare to see large shoals together, yet groups are met 
at intervals, though they, apparently, have no common pur- 
pose in their migrations. They are hunted regularly by 
the Indians when the opportunity presents itself, but it is 
an unusual occurrence to see the whites devote much atten- 
tion to the business, as it is too uncertain to please them. 
Some of the Pacific tribes go far out of sight of land, prob- 
ably fifty miles or more, in their pursuit, but that is gener- 
ally when they are known to be seeking the rocky islands 






FUR ANIMALS. 453 

for the purpose of cubbing. If the hunters are success- 
ful in making a good haul, a feast and a dance is the re- 
sult; but if not, they think that the spirit of ill-luck has 
worked against them, and, to appease that, they frequently 
indulge in barbaric ceremonies and incantations to allay its 
anger. 

The animal was formerly shot with bows and arrows, 
but since the introduction of fire -arms many of the red 
men have discarded their own primitive weapons for the 
latter; yet it is doubtful if they are any more successful, 
as they are apt to fire at too great a distance, so that if 
they even kill the otter it is liable to sink and be lost before 
they can reach it. 

Some are recovered, however, by diving for them, as 
they do not go down like a stone as the seal does. Rifles 
are also likely to frighten the animals by their noise, and 
thus make them scatter more quickly than if the silent 
spear or arrow were used. Several of the more Northern 
tribes are skilful otter-hunters ; and it is really an inspirit- 
ing sight to behold a fleet of their canoes riding the bois- 
terous waves, as they ply spear and arrow, or use the more 
destructive fire-arms in pursuit of their game. 

The Makahs of Washington Territory are the best otter- 
hunters that I saw on the northern coast south of Alaska; 
but in the latter country the Aleuts, who make capital sail- 
ors, were acknowledged to be the chiefs. I accompanied 
the former a few times on a hunt after the otter and fur- 
seals, but our luck, on the whole, was only moderate, as the 
sea was often very rough $ hence we could not land on some 
of the islets in Fuca Straits. Their mode of capturing 
their quarries was to spread out in every direction and 
beat about; and whenever a seal or otter was discovered 
it was chased immediately, and was kept diving and swim- 
ming until its lungs became so full of air that it could not 
dive again ; it was then promptly speared or shot. The 
otter sometimes rose to the surface very near a canoe, and 
the moment its head appeared, a spear, to which was at- 
tached a large bladder, was driven into its body ; and if it 



454 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

was not then killed, and attempted to dive, the spear-point 
and bladder came off the handle, and the creature had to 
try and bear the pain of the one, and overcome the difficul- 
ty of sinking the other. When it had been planted with 
two large bladders it could not go far beneath the surface, 
owing to their buoyancy, so was made a prisoner in a short 
time. This is the method generally applied by this tribe 
in hunting all marine animals; and that it is successful is 
evident by the amount they earn during the hunting sea- 
son — that being often from twenty to one hundred dollars 
a day per man, if the weather and luck are at all favorable. 

When the Indians intend to surprise a rookery of otters, 
they generally select a tempestuous day for their enter- 
prise, as their chances of success are then the greater. 
Placing provisions and short heavy clubs in their canoes, 
they land on the islets as silently as possible, and, when 
they find the animals, the clubs are plied with such vigor 
that they frequently kill from thirty to one hundred before 
the remainder can seek refuge in the seething ocean. Such 
enterprises are frequently attended with danger, for many 
a red man finds a watery grave where he went to find a 
treasure. 

; The peltries secured are, when dried, sold to the fur 
companies for sums ranging from thirty to one hundred 
dollars. A good skin is about six feet by four, exclusive 
of the tail, as that is always sold separately, it being gener- 
ally given as a douceur to the wife. Some otters attain a 
length of seven feet, however, but they are the giants of 
their family. 

Large numbers of these animals were killed formerly; 
but they have become so scarce of late, owing to the war 
waged against them, that it would seem as if they must 
soon become unknown. Behring's sailors were most inde- 
fatigable in pursuing them, as it seemed to open up an in- 
exhaustible source of wealth ; and the result was that near- 
ly 115,000 skins were taken in the eleven years from 1786 
to 1797, so that many of the men realized in this pursuit 
what was a fortune to them in Russia. Not more than a 



FUR ANIMALS. 



455 



fraction of this number can now be taken in the same time, 
as they have been almost decimated in some places. 

Another fur animal that is hunted extensively by nearly 
all the littoral Indians of the North Pacific Ocean is the 
fur-seal; and some of them, at least, find it a profitable 
business, judging from the number of peltries to be seen 
in the markets of San Francisco. The Russian-American 
Fur Company have the monopoly of the trade in Alaska; 
hence the red men dwelling south of that region do much 




FUR-SEALS AT ENGLISH BAY, ST. PAUL S ISLAND. 

better with the animal than their Northern kindred, as 
they can kill it wherever they find it; whereas the latter 
cannot. 

An adult male seal has a length of about seven feet, and 
the female of five feet. The former is polygamous, his 
harem usually consisting of eight or ten of the opposite 
sex, and more, if he can get them; and for these he will 
fight desperately against all rivals. 

The lords of the harems and their spouses go ashoi'e on 



456 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

the islands in November to produce their young, and re- 
main there, as a rule, until the following May. When the 
pups are born they are blind, and remain so for some time; 
but when they are a month old they are taken into the wa- 
ter by their mothers and taught to swim, and after that 
they spend most of their time in it. If caught when young 
they are easily tamed, and soon learn to know a person's 
voice and to expect his caresses. They are very active in 
the water; and as they move through it with great veloci- 
ty, it is a most interesting sight to watch them. Their 
gambols are very pleasing, especially when they are leap- 
ing, as they can bound seven or eight feet into the air with 
apparent ease. 

They sleep on their sides while in the sea, and when they 
go ashore they scramble and tumble over the rocks, until 
sometimes an island is fairly black with them; while their 
gruff barking is heard above the roar of the tempest and 
the screaming of the surging waves, especially if the males 
are fighting, as the females of their harems seem to encour- 
age them to the combat by persistent cries. 

When the Indians intend to attack these they drive them 
inland slowly, allowing them to rest at intervals ; and when 




TOE bEAI.. 



they have reached a good position some of the herd are 
separated from the others, and the red men commence ply- 
ing their sharp-edged clubs. One blow on the back of the 
head is generally sufficient to produce death, owing to the 
thinness of the skull. 

When the hunters have killed all they want, or oppor- 
tunity permits, the carcasses are skinned, the hides are 



FUR ANIMALS. 457 

dried, and the remains are made into oil, or boiled and 
eaten, so that no portion is wasted. 

This valuable creature, whose hearing is very sharp, is 
readily distinguished from the hair-seal by having flippers 
destitute of hair, external ears, and only three nails, where- 
as the other has five nails on the hind flippers. It is, in 
fact, more closely allied to the sea- lion than to the hair- 
seal ; hence is classed with it in the genus Otariidce, in- 
stead of being placed in the JPhocidce. The allied kindred 
do not seem to care much for each other's society, however, 
for the sea-lion scrupulously avoids places occupied by the 
other, and very properly, if it has a sense of smell, for the 
rookeries of the fur-seal have anything but a pleasant odor. 

I had an adventure once, while out on a short cruise after 
this animal, that I shall not readily forget, as it came near 
sending me over to join the great majority. I was in a 
large canoe in Fuca Straits with a party of Indians who 
were out on a sealing expedition, and our course led us to 
one of the small islands which dot that splendid body of 
water in many places. When we started from the reserva- 
tion the day was fine, but after being out a short time the 
wind freshened into a stiff breeze, and the billows reared 
up into foam-crested hills that presented anything but a 
pleasant sight to ns ; and before we reached our destina- 
tion they were so huge that our frail craft threatened to be 
ingulfed every moment in the vale of waters. 

By pushing the paddles deep into the sea on the star- 
board side, and running across the waves, to avoid their 
following us and coming aboard, we managed to make 
slow headway — very slow indeed, as we had to watch the 
seas carefully and to steer right into the teeth of a land- 
breeze, while another coming from the ocean quartered us. 

After a most tedious voyage of four or five hours we 
were compelled to land on the first islet we met, and were 
only able to do that through the immense force of a surge 
that carried us far up on the sloping beach and left us 
there high and dry. Finding ourselves safe, we pulled the 
canoe shoreward in a hurry, and had it beyond the reach of 

20 



458 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

the waves before the next one arrived. The islet on which 
we were stranded was small, and contained scarcely any- 
thing interesting except a few breeze -torn firs, a meagre 
grass, and some humble flowers; yet it was land, and it 
was therefore very important then. In wandering about 
it, I noticed several caverns through which the seething 
waves dashed in masses of foam, and roared and rumbled 
as if they were in the greatest distress. Mingled with this 
thundering were the screaming of the wind and the cries 
of many seals — sounds which seemed to be in harmony with 
the boisterous elements of air and sea ; and on looking 
down through an opening in the basaltic crags I saw a 
number of the animals lying on the rocks below, but they 
were beyond the heavy blows of the billows. Pointing 
this out to one of the men, I told him he had evidently 
come to a good place; but he only gravely shook his head, 
and walked away without uttering a word. 

Toward evening the storm abated somewhat, but the 
violence of the wind was followed by a heavy rain that 
caused the sky to look like a black pall. To avoid this, 
we sought shelter in a cavern ; yet that was not rain-proof 
enough to keep us from getting a drenching. Our posi- 
tion was made more uncomfortable by the want of food; 
for though the Indians had some dried clams, which they 
ate with avidity, I had nothing, as I expected to return to 
the reservation the same day. I envied my dusky compan- 
ions their stomachs and appetites just then, and wished I 
had them for a short time, as I was very hungry, and I 
kept wishing it so much that I finally tried to eat some 
of their loathsome food ; but I had not eaten the second 
mouthful before I was seized with nausea and its conse- 
quence. This made me so faint that I could scarcely 
move; and when I thought of my situation and dripping 
garments, I wished myself back on the main-land. 

The storm having decreased in violence by midnight, it 
was decided to re-embark, if possible ; so the canoe was 
launched on a receding wave by two Indians, who were 
stripped to the buff. 



FUR ANIMALS. 



459 



I stepped in first, but I had scarcely entered before a 
large wave struck the craft, and, lifting it high up, carried 
it and the two men holding it shoreward with a rush; and 
as I had not sat down I was pitched into the sea backward, 




THE MAYER TEAP. 



and made to drink a large quantity of salt-water. I re- 
member distinctly making some blind efforts to find a 
footing and attempting to swim ; but I do not know how 
I got ashore, except to suppose that my struggles aided me 
somewhat, and that the wave did the remainder. I scram- 
bled to my feet on the beach as rapidly as I could, and 
made a dash for the interior as fast as my soaking gar- 
ments would permit, and was soon beyond the reach of the 
treacherous combers. 

Not knowing what had become of the remainder of the 
party, I commenced shouting, and in a moment after a 



460 



SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



lusty voice could be heard above the roar of the storm 
telling me to come on. The darkness was intense, yet I 
soon found the Stentor ; and on inquiring of him what had 
become of the canoe and those who held it, he said they 
were all right, except that one of the men had received a 
hard knock in the stomach from the craft, and was tempo- 
rarily laid up for repairs. On rejoining the others a few 
moments after, I learned that the Indians had saved them- 
selves by clinging tenaciously to the boat, and that when 
the wave receded, their weight kept it from going to sea, 
it being cast high up on the beach. 

After a short consultation, it was decided to remain on 
the island that night and attempt to reach the main-land in 
the morning, the sea then running being deemed too heavy 
to give us much of a chance for our lives in the darkness. 
That night was a most wretched one to me, and I gladly 
hailed the return of the morning; as it enabled us to 
launch our canoe and reach the main-land in safety. When 
we arrived there, I learned that the Indians considered the 




TILE BE.WEB. 



island to be the resort of evil spirits; that it was their 
wailing we had heard in the caverns ; and that it was be- 
cause we had intruded on their ground that we met with 
the accident, as a warning not to go there again, or take 



FUR ANIMALS. 461 

the consequences. I accepted their interpretation of our 
ill-luck, for that was the last time I visited the place, as my 
duties carried me elsewhere; yet I do not now regret my 
experience on that lonely isle, which is sacred alone to wa- 
ter-fowl and seals, the heavy clashing of waves and crags, 
and the moaning or the screaming of the wind. 

The beaver is becoming abundant in some portions of 
the country, especially in the wooded regions bordering 
the Pacific Ocean, as very little trapping is done there, 
owing to the cheapness of the fur, and the fact that people 
have a more settled business; but it is decreasing in Brit- 
ish America, owing to the numbers captured annually in 
traps. 

Another little creature found in the North-west, though 
not strictly a fur animal, deserves mention, owing to its 
unique position in the animal world. This species, which 
is known to the Indians of the North-west coast by the 
names of sewellel and showtl, is one of the most unique 
specimens of the animal kingdom. It is certainly one of 
the least known of the mammals of America, owing to its 
scarcity, peculiar habits, and the want of opportunities to 
study its characteristics; as its habitat is confined to a few 
isolated and barren sections of the North-west, little fre- 
quented by the wandering tourist, and rarely indeed by 
the scientific naturalist. 

Its geographical range is limited, being bounded on the 
south by Oregon, and on the north by British Columbia, 
an area embracing probably some eight degrees of latitude; 
while its eastward wandering is checked by the high, roll- 
ing plateaux that lie directly east of the Cascade Range. 
Unlike most of the quadrupeds of the North-west, it crosses 
this towering range ; and here it differs widely from other 
mammals, for that chain is the most arbitrary on the conti- 
nent in its separation of animal life; and in this feature is, 
in all probability, equalled by no other mountains on the 
globe except the Himalayas. It has not yet been found in 
the Rocky Mountains, nor, so far as I can learn, east of 
the Blue Ridge, which rims in a general south-westerly 



462 SPOUTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

direction through Eastern Oregon and Washington Terri- 
tory. The probability of its being an inhabitant of any 
other section of the continent except where it has been al- 
ready discovered is strongly in the negative, as the soil and 
climate elsewhere do not seem adapted to its comfortable 
existence. Its favorite haunts are the small sandy prairies 
adjacent to the rivers that run through the dense forests 
of "Western Oregon and "Washington Territory, for it can 
obtain an abundance of food and water in such localities 
at all seasons of the year; and it is comparatively safe 
from enemies, especially those which are the most untiring 
in its pursuit and destruction — the badger and the coyote, 
or prairie wolf, whose habitat is the Eastern plateaux. The 
showtl being an inveterate miner, the soft sandy soil ena- 
bles it to dig a home for itself in a very short time ; and 
this, and the profusion of vegetation, combined with the 
equable climate of the Western divisions, are the very ex- 
cellent motives that decide it in selecting the prairies for 
its home. 

Being the only species of its genus yet discovered, it 
possesses much interest for the scientific naturalist, and 
not a little for the amateur who speculates on Nature's 
laws. In its isolation it stands as an example in the ani- 
mal kingdom; so the question now to be settled is, what 
purpose is it intended to fulfil in the economy of Nature? 
It was at one time supposed to be a member of the Sper- 
mophiles • but Sir John Richardson, after a careful ana- 
tomical investigation, proved it to be not only a new spe- 
cies, but also a new genus, of the sub-family Castorinaz, 
and to differ widely from the squirrel family, especially in 
its dental formation. The molar teeth being devoid of 
roots, he named it generically and specifically Aplodontia 
leporina, from oplos, simple, and odons, a tooth. Its special 
purpose, therefore, so far as may be conjectured, seems to 
be to unite the squirrel and beaver families; for while it 
is distinct from both in many particulars, yet it greatly 
resembles one of the Spermophiles — the prairie-dog — in its 
range of food, domiciliary architecture, and social relations. 



FUR ANIMALS. 463 

Like the latter, it is a strict vegetarian, a ceaseless miner, 
and a provident commissary; for it is always careful to 
lay by something for a rainy day. Unlike the prairie-dog, 
however, it does not seem to care for the sunlight, is as 
grave as an owl, and seldom resorts to playfulness — at least 
above-ground. Nature seems to have fitted it specially 
for dwelling in comparative darkness, judging from the 
smallness of the eyes and the form of the ears ; and that 
it loves its gloomy abode would be evident by the care it 
takes to avoid the daylight, for it is rarely ever seen out- 
side its burrow before the approach of twilight. I have 
seen it during fine days in March pottering around among 
its stores, which were spread over the burrows to dry in 
the sun; but the moment it detected the presence of any 
unusual object, it immediately darted inside. 

In general appearance, the showtl is not unlike a musk- 
rat, but with this important difference, that the latter flour- 
ishes a handsome tail, while the former is devoid of it — 
it has at least none worth mentioning; for the little fleshy 
protuberance that terminates the spinal column can scarce- 
ly be called one, the vertebra not being an inch long. A 
full-grown male averages about fourteen inches in length 
and six in height; but it looks taller than it actually is, 
owing to its general hump backed attitude. The muzzle 
is large and round ; the head full and well developed ; the 
ears are short, quite rounded, and covered on both sides 
with fine, soft hair; the eyes are very small, and of a dark- 
brown color, and are situated midway between the nose 
and the ears. The incisor teeth are exceedingly sharp, 
and well adapted for cutting the roots, bark, and fibrous 
vegetables on which the animal subsists. Like those of 
all the rodentia, the longer they are in use the more effi- 
cient do they become ; for Nature has wisely made them 
of such material that time and work only increase their 
effectiveness. The legs are short and stout; the feet broad 
and strong ; and the nails, which are long, thick, and curved, 
are powerful mining implements. 

I am not acquainted with any animal that can burrow a 



464 SPORTING AD VENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

home for itself in so short a time as the showtl ; and it is 
well for it that it possesses this quality, else its life would 
be of short duration ; for it has numerous foes, and no 
means of defending itself against their attacks except re- 
treating to its subterranean domicile. Its powers of loco- 
motion are exceedingly limited, owing to the peculiar con- 
formation of the feet; and this great disadvantage leaves 
it completely at the mercy of its enemies when once out- 
side its burrow. Its usual gait is an awkward, shambling 
run; and that is so slow that any animal of greater speed 
than the porcupine could readily overtake it, even when 
pressed to its best pace by fear. 

Its fur is thick, and tolerably fine. Its outer tinge is a 
reddish-brown, but the inner approaches a bluish-gray at 
the base. The density of its coating made it at one time 
an object of pursuit by the Indians ; but since the intro- 
duction of civilization and cotton goods they capture it 
mainly for its flesh, which they consider to possess high 
gastronomic qualities. The robe made of its fur gave the 
animal the name by which it is now known to the majority 
of the hunters and the coast Indians of the North-west. 
Lewis and Clarke, who were sent out by the American 
Government in 1804 to explore the country between the 
Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, heard of it from 
the Clatsop Indians, and in their work they mentioned that 
" it could burrow in the ground, and climb a tree like a 
squirrel." As they had not seen it, in all probability, they 
took their statements from the Chinooks; and Indian as- 
sertions in matters appertaining to natural history are not 
always famous for their correctness. This tribe used a 
robe made of its fur, which they called " she-wel-el ;" and 
the explorers applied this name to the animal itself, al- 
though it was not the one used by the red man. The 
Nisqually Indians of Washington Territory call it the 
" showtl ;" hence the application of both names in its de- 
nomination. The male and female are exact copies of each 
other, except that the latter is a little the smaller. She 
produces two litters a yeai*, the first appearing in spring, 



FUli ANIMALS. 465 

the other in autumn, and the number of young at a birth 
is usually from four to six. The nest in which they are 
nurtured resembles that of the rabbit in form, and is usu- 
ally placed in the darkest part of the burrow. The first 
family is cared for by the parents until the second appears; 
but, according to Indian tales, the members are expected 
to set up house-keeping for themselves after that time. 

The showtl is quite social in character; and though not 
so gregarious as the prairie-dog, yet it seems very much 
attached to its kindred in the colony. This colony gen- 
erally consists of from a dozen to a hundred families, and 
they, apparently, live together in the most perfect harmony. 
They seem moved by one common impulse, and that, as a 
rule, is to dig up the ground as rapidly as possible. The 
result is that the region adjoining their village is honey- 
combed in every direction, and is covered with a mass of 
dead vegetation ; for they do not spare the root or bark of 
anything green that they can devour or destroy. They are 
persistent seekers after food, and such articles as they dp 
not immediately dispose of they store away in their laby- 
rinthine cellars. This acquisitive talent causes them to up- 
root a large tract of country in a short time, and when they 
exhaust the resources of one section they move to another. 
According to Indian tales, they migrate only at night, and, 
in a few minutes after having chosen an encampment, they 
have their houses ready for occupation. They first dig a 
shallow passage, then come to the surface, and work down 
again. This system of mining is evidently intended to re- 
lieve them of the necessity of forcing or carrying the exca- 
vated dirt out of the burrow, so that they seem to have a 
good idea of the economy of labor. All their movements 
being, as a rule, performed underground, a study of their 
habits is rather difficult, unless a large amount of time and 
patience is wasted. They are so cautious about moving 
out of their burrows, that it is only after they have care- 
fully reconnoitred their surroundings that they even pre- 
sume to drink from the rivulet near their village. 

Their mode of felling shrubs and trees is to cut away at 
20* 



4GG SPOETINO ADVENTUMES IN THE FAR WEST. 

the roots ; and when the object of theiv attention is pros- 
trate, all work with a keen activity, as the share of each is 
only limited by its power to carry it away. The camass 
[Camassia escidenta), which grows extensively on the prai- 
ries, and is used as an article of food b} r the Indians, seems 
to possess great attractions for the showtl, and it is conse- 
quently looked on by the red men as an impertinent rival. 
The result of this enmity or rivalry is apt to be prejudicial 
to the longevity of the rodent; for the Indian considers a 
dinner of roast camass bulbs and showtl meat a feast fit for 
a Cresar, and he takes every opportunity of enjoying it. 

This little animal seems to be indifferent to the topo- 
graphical conformation of a country, judging by my own 
experience, as I have found it from the table-like prairies 
of the forest to the snow-line of the rugged Cascade Range. 
It must, I infer, partially hibernate during the winter on the 
higher mountains ; but in the valleys, where frosts even are 
not severe, it remains in an active condition throughout 
the year. It may be seen out on the Cascade Range as 
early as March, especially if the weather is fine ; but murky 
days cause it to keep close to its burrow, no matter wheth- 
er its habitat is on hill, plain, or plateau. Its fiercest ene- 
my east of the Cascade Range is the pugnacious badger, 
which pursues it with the greatest pertinacity, notwith- 
standing the fact that ground-squirrels are exceedingly 
numerous, and much more easily obtained. The Taxidea, 
like the red man, is, however, an epicure in its own way, 
and both these products of the American continent evi- 
dently consider the flesh of the showtl superior to that of 
any other auimal. The meat is certainly tender, and much 
less rank in taste than that of the wood hare, while it is 
more succulent than that of the squirrel. 

"Whenever a badger gets among a colony, it plays sad 
havoc with its members, and destroys them in the very 
wantonness of its fuiy, much the same as a terrier would 
a lot of rats. The result is, that it soon deprives itself of a 
most savory bonne bouche, and it has then to content itself 
with spermophiles and field-mice. The coyotes, or prairie- 



FUR ANIMALS. 



4G7 



wolves, also prey on the defenceless rodent; but it fre- 
quently eludes them in its labyrinthine burrows, into which 
nothing can follow it but the badger. This latter animal 
being unknown west of the Cascade Range, the showtl 
lives in comparative security in that division of the Pacific 
slope ; for its greatest foe there, the red man, does not slay 
it wantonly. 

The Indians of Washington Territory have a tradition 
that it was the first animal endowed with life, and the 




BULLS QUARRELLING. 



source whence sprung the human race — the red portion, at 
least — and on this account they pretend to entertain a sort 
of reverence for it ; but that, like several other sentiments 
which they profess, extends no farther than mere expe- 
diency, for they kill it whenever they get the opportunity, 
and devour it with the greatest avidity. This barbaric bit 
of the Darwinian philosophy I once turned to account to 
test the extent of an Indian's reasoning power; but I found 



46S SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 

that he checked all attempts at argument by steadfastly 
adhering to the red man's sole code of ethics — expediency. 
I wanted to prove to him that he was a cannibal if he ate 
his remote ancestor, and he answered me promptly by 
stating that his ancestor was good eating, and should there- 
fore be utilized in the only way in which it was practica- 
ble to do so ; but, besides that fact, he reminded me that 
the human race had progressed so far from their original 
source that both could not now be considered kindred by 
any system of logic, and he therefore could not be consid- 
ered a cannibal. I yielded the point at once, much to his 
satisfaction, as soon as I had proved to myself the main- 
spring of Indian action. 

The showtl furnishes good sport to those who wish for 
exercise with the bow and arrow. It may be brought out 
of its hole by chirping for a little while, and the moment 
it appears it affords an excellent target for a shaft. Even 
when running toward its burrow, it moves so slowly that 
it can be easily killed or wounded with an arrow, if one is 
at all an adept in the use of the bow. I have shot some in 
that way, and found it interesting sport, besides enjoying 
a pleasant bonne bouche when hungry. 

I examined several specimens captured in this manner, 
with the aid of a surgical friend, and found that they dif- 
fered from their kindred, the ground-squirrels, in many par- 
ticulars, but especially in being devoid of the post-orbital 
process, and having rootless molars. This latter character- 
istic allied them to the beaver; so the inference would seem 
to be that the showtl is the connecting link between the 
squirrels and the beavers. But why Nature should have 
produced, in opposition to all her general rules, only one 
genus and one species of this interesting creature — should 
have rendered it so defenceless, made it so scarce, and con- 
fined its range to such narrow limits — is a question to puz- 
zle the minds of those unacquainted with her great arcana. 

The number of fur animals shot or trapped in America 
each year seems almost incredible ; yet, by glancing at the 
list of fur skins sold in London and Leipsic during parts 



FUR ANIMALS. 



469 



of 1878— '79, we find that the enormous quantity of nearly 
9,500,000 were disposed of by auction ; but that does not 
by any means represent the total amount, as several minor 
dealers also got rid of their stock during that time. 

The large sales of American furs in London during the 
months of January, March, and September, 1878, and Jan- 
uary, March, May, and July, 1879, and during the months 
of May and September, 1878, and May, 1879, in Leipsic, 
amounted to the above figures, and wei'e divided as fol- 
lows ; but it should be understood the list does not include 
all peltries sold, such as those of hares and other animals : 



Musk-rat 5,462,720 

Raccoon 1,086,927 

Skunk 782,955 

Mink 419,338 

Fisher 13,729 

Marten 128,817 

Beaver 347,203 

Red Fox 141,408 

Gray Fox 52,235 

Kitt Fox 15,783 

White Fox 12,133 

Cross Fox 8,591 

Silver Fox 2,333 



Blue Fox 5,898 

Opossum 658,040 



Lynx 

Bay Lynx. . 

Badger 

Bear 

Squirrel 

Wolf 

Wolverene 
Land-otter 
Sea-otter . . 
Fur-seal . . . 



46,563 

7,890 

14,037 

27,540 

61,655 

9,555 

2,124 

32,312 

6,912 

140,478 

Total 9,497,176 



During the months of March and September, 1873, the 
following furs were imported into London alone : 



Musk-rat 2,942,845 

465,762 

263,343 

97,458 

7,155 



Raccoon. . . 

Skunk 

Mink , 

Fisher 

Marten 

Beaver 

Red Fox. . . . 
Gray Fox. . 
Kitt Fox.. 
White Fox. 
Cross Fox. 
Silver Fox. 
Blue Fox.. 



211, 
64. 
26. 

9. 

9. 

5. 

1, 

1. 



897 
052 
750 

•205 
290 
879 
648 



Opossum 240,505 



Lynx 

Badger 

Black Bear . . 
Grizzly Bear. 
Gray Wolf. . . 
Dusky Wolf. 
Wolverene .. 
Land-otter... 
Sea-otter 

Fur-seal 

Hare 



7,785 

5,197 

13,736 

857 

7,006 

2,118 

2,136 

19,242 

5,471 

130,590 

10,02 9 

Total...., 4,649,562 



THE END. 



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